What I couldn't figure out about the evacuation of New Orleans

[Jersey Devil]

I saw some posts here suggesting that not enough was done to help poor people escape NO before Katrina hit and I suppose that is true. But I also saw a few people on TV at the Superdome who said they DID have the means to leave NO but turned around and came back when faced with the massive traffic jams Saturday and Sunday, not wanting to get stuck in a category 5 hurricane while exposed out on the road in a traffic jam.

What bothers me is that all the pics I saw of traffic leaving NO on Saturday and Sunday were of highways jammed outbound but no traffic except for a few cars inbound. Wouldn't it have been rather simple to just turn the inbound lanes into outbound lanes due to the emergency or is that too complicated? It certainly would have cut down on the traffic and maybe caused some more people to leave.

[TroglodyteScholar]

1. From what I understand..

Reversing the inbound lanes is a pretty common procedure. I think they did that to I-75 a time or two during the past hurricane season. Some of the problem was probably due to plain-and-simple poor planning.

[Qibing Zero]

5. Yes, they did do it last season

I think it was I-95, but it could have been 75 as well.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. they did that

in some places, they made all lanes outbound lanes. I don't know how common this was, though.

[SlackJawedYokel]

3. They do that.

But there is a timing issue... the pics you saw might have been before the contra-flow or after when they have to get emergency personnel to more appropriate duties.
IOW, they do it for a period of time and then they stop.
So if you miss the window, you're SOL.

Cletus

[Jersey Devil]

6. Well, thanks, glad to hear that

I thought maybe they were complete nincompoops.

[Triana]

4. they did that (n/t)

[ClintonTyree]

7. They DID do that............

it's called "contraflow"..........and everyone that waited until the last minute was screwed. They stop "contraflow" about 4 hours before the storm hits to allow emergency vehicles access to the city. Many people were too stubborn to leave. There were busses going around the city to take people to the Dome. Many refused, deciding to stay in their homes.
You can blame the government all you want, but if people won't take responsibility for their own safety then you can't help them.

[Jersey Devil]

8. thanks (nt)

.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

9. I saw the same thing

I thought the "contraflow" (if that's the right term) was in effect. But I kept seeing these "live" shots of I-10 with bumper-to-bumper 5 mph traffic out bound and nothing or just a few cars in the other direction. :shrug: