Originally Posted by PaulH
I think that many people should have walked out of New Orleans also. Perhaps allowing able-bodied people to stay at the stadium discouraged some from doing this. Bussing people out would have also helped.
Paul
New Orleans is a long way from anywhere, surrounded on three sides by water. Not many people could walk 80 miles to Baton Rouge. I'm not sure where else they might consider walking before the storm.
After the storm hit and it became apparent the situation was really bad, there were other complications. People couldn't walk east to Slidell because they have to cross the twin spans of I-10, which cross over Lake Pontchartrain and which were destroyed by Katrina anyway--as was Slidell. Wouldn't have done anyone any good to walk there.
They couldn't walk north to St. Tammany Parish because they would have to cross the flooded Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the longest bridge in the world, which also crosses the lake.
It wouldn't make sense to have walked across the Crescent City Connection to the west bank of the Mississippi, because there's nothing there but small fishing communities. That and bayou.
Walking to Baton Rouge is possible, I guess, but people choosing to try it would still have to cross a long stretch of bridge (that was under water) over the Bonnet Carre Spillway and Lake Pontchartrain.