Sunday, August 31, 2008
Major evac problems near Hattiesburg
Posted by Kevin Allman on Sun, Aug 31, 2008 at 9:21 PM
I'm hearing terrible things about the evacuation on I-59 around Hattiesburg, Miss., where it sounds like things are falling apart completely:
Huck:
I am livid with the information we are receiving from the authorities and the media about traffic on I-59. We left our home at 3:45am and didn't get to Hattiesburg until 1:00pm. The contraflow, which we took, was a joke. It only lasted about 10 miles or so, and was bumper-to-bumper from start to finish.
And authorities and media keep saying how wonderful contraflow is and keep downplaying the reports by drivers that there is serious traffic problems on I-59. It is irresponsible and potentially fatal to families to continue to tell them to evacuate at this time and to tell them that it is safe to go down I-59. People will run out of gas. People will not even be able to outrun the storm at this point.
It is a travesty. They are lying. And I'm tired and angry.
- Contraflow on 59 is the superdome of gustav.- Ends around hattiesburg. Pointless. Slowing us down.
- Bottlenecking 5 lanes into 2
- Finally hit hattiesburg. 13 hrs on road. Cant go more.
- Looking 4 a hotel. Need miracle.
And most worrisome, Humid City Loki, over a 4-hour period stuck in traffic:
- Contraflow east is gustavs superdome- Cell dying turning off
- Need help in hattiesberg dm me
- Need help in hattiesburg, dm me
- Need
- Phone dying need temp ac 4 animals
What's going on in Hattiesburg? Where is the help?
Comments (4)
Showing 1-4 of 4
Sigh. I'm in Houston; our city elders f@#$ed up BIG time during the Rita "evacuation". No-one along the I-59, apparently, paid attention to the TX-59.
like
dislike
Houston was the same way last hurricane they had-my sister in law and brother used GPS to find back roads to get out-but yeah, if you are low on money, or your car isn't in the greatest shape, you will run into probs during one of these evacuations. New Orleans is HUGE and the roads really can't handle that kind of traffic. I live on an Island in Fl--it's impossible to leave when they evacuate us--we usually don't leave and have been lucky so far. I am so sorry you all have to go through this...Good luck--Note to other states--HELP the storm refugees-be kind--this could be YOU!
Contraflow was a joke. Funnily enough, we started to move best where contraflow ended.
As a lifelong resident of Southwest Mississippi, I am very sorry to hear that ANYONE didn't feel welcome in our great state. I personally, along with my wife and children, spent Sunday afternoon standing on an overpass with an airbrushed bed-sheet that said "WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI... GOD BLESS Y'ALL!!!" and another that said "I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow! God Bless! We (heart) you!" and waving to the contraflow. One of our guys even lowered a bucket of water by rope to someone who's car ran hot just below the overpass (no exit ramp to get down there). My family, my neighbors and myself did our very best to make everyone entering our state feel welcome. I only wish that we could have done more to help. Maybe next time (God forbid there should be a next time, but we all know there will be) we can offer people a place to park an RV or shelter. God Bless, MississippiMan
