Was anybody stopped from evacuating NOLA before the storm?

[The Backlash Cometh]

Someone told me last night that they were watching the news and one of the survivors was asked why he didn't evacuate. The survivor said that when he finally found transportation, they drove to the main highway out and were turned away and told to go back.

Anyone see this on the news?

[moc]

1. I have heard this. I heard people were being told to turn back

because the traffic was so backed up, there was no way they'd get out.

[ray of light]

2. a link would be great.

[xultar]

4. The OP is asking if it is true. Obviously they don't have a link. I heard

the same story on CNN a man a black man was being interviewed.

HE said he was told to turn back. Apparently the storm was too close and they didn't think he'd make it out in time.

No link but I SAW the interview with the man who said it on CNN.

[ray of light]

9. ok...thanks

did you check cnn transcripts?

[neuvocat]

3. A lot of them were too poor to leave.

Many others were tourists who couldn't leave because their planes were grounded. No one tried to relocate either group.

[xultar]

5. I saw an interview with a black man on CNN who said that happend to him

There is a time however when it is too late to leave. I'm sure there was a point when the state and local police had to close the freeways to keep people from getting trapped in their cars on the road in the storm.

There are tons of freeways surrounding NOLA that are affected by high waters.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. I don't know if they can prevent you from leaving unless there's

a mandatory curfew.

[xultar]

13. They did call a mandatory curfew @ about 6pm that sunday nite

before the storm hit.

What we all thought was funny is that they called a curfew and there were still people lined up for blocks @ the superdome when the first bands of the storm hit NOLA.

[Spazito]

6. There comes a time when it is more dangerous to be out on the

road than to be elsewhere and the roads are closed. I know the Mayor and the local newscasts were very clear as to when they would close the roads as the hurricane neared.

I suspect this man tried to leave too late.

[Pirate Smile]

7. I saw it. He said the highway was closed.

I wasn't sure if he meant before the storm or after the storm when maybe the highway was damaged but before the levees broke.

My common sense is getting whacked to hell and alarm bells are ringing. Maybe he said before the storm, I just couldn't figure out why that would be unless they thought it was too close to the time when the storm would hit. I DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING! Nothing makes any sense.

Like the reporters are finally saying, why can we(the media) get food, water and supplies to our crews but they can't get food and water to everyone here. They could have made hundreds of trips with small amounts of water and food during the time the people had to wait with nothing. So you can't drive a semi there, then drive the same vehicles the media people are driving and just do it a ton of times or with a ton of vehicles.

Why don't they walk out? Last night we found out there is a checkpoint and they wont let anyone leave the city. The mayor said DAYS AGO, after he issued the "Desperate SOS" from the convention center that he was going to tell them to march, to march out of the city. I didn't really understand the "march" part before. I thought they could just walk out. Now I know they won't let them leave.

I'm sure they would rather die in a field or walking on the highway (why wouldn't food and water be out there) then in the squalor of death, rancid human waste, surrounded by polluted, toxic water, with no food or water.

Arrrgggghhh!!!!!

[demo dutch]

10. Highway was closed because bad weather started to move in

What would have been worse stranded in a car on the road or standed in NOLA

[wellstone_democrat]

11. Yes

my friends were on late Saturday afternoon---and before anyone bitches that they waited too long, they were trying to get his 80 year old father discharged from the hospital *who told them to come get him!* The kind old gentleman had emphysema and died in the horrors during the next few days on the roof where they took refuge.

My friends were in the big highway jam of cars and police *told* them to head back in as the road was more dangerous than NO. I reported on this when they got out the other day. But many were turned back

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. I'm sorry for you and your friends.

So many sad stories.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

12. Videos from before - showed ten lane highway down to 1 lane

Does anyone have information about road construction in the area? I thought it was quite odd that they hadn't opened up ALL LANES to exit the city.