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We Shut Down the Bridge
Washington Times & UPI via NRO ^ | Sep. 9, 2005 | Shaun Waterman

Posted on 09/09/2005 11:06:37 AM PDT by hipaatwo

Think local officials are less to blame for deaths in New Orleans than federal officials? In the most jaw-dropping story of the week, UPI has the police chief of Gretna, Louisiana, admitting that he closed off one of the major arteries out of New Orleans on Monday, before the storm hit:

"We shut down the bridge," Arthur Lawson, chief of the City of Gretna Police Department, confirmed to United Press International, adding that his jurisdiction had been "a closed and secure location" since before the storm hit.

"All our people had evacuated and we locked the city down," he said. The bridge in question -- the Crescent City Connection -- is the major artery heading west out of New Orleans across the Mississippi River.


He added that the small town, which he called "a bedroom community" for the city of New Orleans, would have been overwhelmed by the influx. "There was no food, water or shelter" in Gretna City, Lawson said. "We did not have the wherewithal to deal with these people. If we had opened the bridge, our city would have looked like New Orleans does now: looted, burned and pillaged."


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: donutwatch; govwatch; gretna; hurricanekatrina; incompetence; katrina; katrinafailures; leftistcrap; neworleans; nimby; selfdefense; suburbanvictims; urbanbarbarians; yellowsnowdog
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To: Mo1

Already pissed off? This will only make it worse.

Ping


21 posted on 09/09/2005 11:14:49 AM PDT by hipaatwo
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To: hipaatwo

The Crescent City Connection

At some point when a storm is approaching all bridges such as the above get shut down due to increases in the storm's rath.... I know they had warned of bridges being closed when the winds begin to pick up to a certain speed. I'm not sure if this is what this closure was about.
22 posted on 09/09/2005 11:15:07 AM PDT by deport
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To: hipaatwo

OK. Racism may have had something to do with it...


23 posted on 09/09/2005 11:15:12 AM PDT by gridlock (IF YOU'RE NOT CATCHING FLAK, YOU'RE NOT OVER THE TARGET...)
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To: hipaatwo

Michael Brown's fault. </sarcasm>


24 posted on 09/09/2005 11:15:23 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Pessimist
I thought I read on here the other day though that the people who wrote this account were a couple of lefty union leaders in town for some convention or something. Consider the source.

I will, but I also think this is consisent with the fact that no one left the Superdome on foot that we heard of.

25 posted on 09/09/2005 11:15:32 AM PDT by dirtboy (Drool overflowed my buffer...)
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To: hipaatwo
Every single sheriff and mayor of other cities in Louisiana knew what thugs ran the streets unimpeded in NO and they did not want that terror imported to their towns and cities.
26 posted on 09/09/2005 11:15:42 AM PDT by msnimje (CNN - Constant Negative Nonsense)
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To: hipaatwo; AFPhys; prairiebreeze; onyx; Texasforever; CyberAnt; BigSkyFreeper; Tamzee; ...
Think local officials are less to blame for deaths in New Orleans than federal officials? In the most jaw-dropping story of the week, UPI has the police chief of Gretna, Louisiana, admitting that he closed off one of the major arteries out of New Orleans on Monday, before the storm hit:

Good Lord

27 posted on 09/09/2005 11:16:30 AM PDT by Mo1
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To: hipaatwo

Unbefreakinglievable.


28 posted on 09/09/2005 11:18:27 AM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: Pessimist
I agree.

He knew there was killing, burning and raping going on in NO.

Gretna's a town of 17,000 people - so I doubt he had more than a couple dozen deputies to deal with a potential marauding crowd of 100,000.

He was sworn to protect the citizens of his town and he probably felt, like a normal person, that Police Chief Compass should be in charge of protecting citizens of New Orleans.

29 posted on 09/09/2005 11:18:43 AM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave troops and their Commander in Chief)
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To: Famishus; Fred Nerks

Gobsmacked!!


30 posted on 09/09/2005 11:19:06 AM PDT by mother22wife21 ("We ain't stuck on stupid," General Honore said. "We don't place troops in the eye of a hurricane.)
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To: hipaatwo

There was no food or water? That is BS. I lived on the West Bank when I was little. There are hospitals, grocery stores, restaurants, hotels. All of these could have been commandeered by the Gretna police to help those accross the River. Bush is not racist. The Governor, Mayor and police were racist, or at the very least, uncaring about those poor people who were left to die accross the river.


31 posted on 09/09/2005 11:19:27 AM PDT by gulf1609
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To: Mo1

I can almost understand the bridge being closed when winds were above a certain speed, but was it reopened...that's the question.


Was it reopened to permit flight to higher ground as the levee was breached? If the answer is no, there ought to be hell to pay.


32 posted on 09/09/2005 11:19:30 AM PDT by Petronski (Cyborg is the greatest blessing I have ever known.)
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To: hipaatwo

Was that the only road out of NO that was not damaged by the storm? If so, that would explain alot.


33 posted on 09/09/2005 11:19:42 AM PDT by wolfcreek
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To: hipaatwo

This is turning into the FUBAR of the century.


34 posted on 09/09/2005 11:20:02 AM PDT by moasicwolf
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To: dirtboy

Whoa... 'Copland'.


35 posted on 09/09/2005 11:20:10 AM PDT by johnny7 (“And now, little man, I give the watch to you.”)
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To: gridlock

Wrong. Gretna is about as racially integrated and diverse as any liberal's wet dream.


36 posted on 09/09/2005 11:20:11 AM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave troops and their Commander in Chief)
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To: All
Hey folks, you may be on a wild goose chase caused by not knowing much about hurricanes.

In our area they close all bridges when the winds reach tropical storm force(40 mph) -- Period no exceptions. The danger of cars and trucks being blown off the bridges is too great to risk -- There is the real possibility that the bridge may be severely damaged in a wreck and disable an escape or a relief route after the hurricane passes. It's deemed unsafe to be in vehicles when the outer bands are nearing your location. Tornadoes and high wind gust are common in the time proceeding the hurricane.

Don't leap before you look -- need more facts.
37 posted on 09/09/2005 11:21:08 AM PDT by Tarpon
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To: Tarpon

We need to know when it was closed and when it was reopened.


38 posted on 09/09/2005 11:22:30 AM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: hipaatwo

Also, from what I have seen when looking at sights about the damage on the West Bank, there was no flooding. Some wind damage, but no flooding. Some even had electicity or gas soon after the storm blew over.


39 posted on 09/09/2005 11:22:50 AM PDT by gulf1609
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To: Tarpon

But was the bridge reopened AFTER the levees broke? That is the question!


40 posted on 09/09/2005 11:22:52 AM PDT by mosquitobite
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