TxDot Helping Inform Hurricane Katrina Refugees, Residents

AUSTIN – TxDOT has been receiving a high number of telephone calls from Hurricane Katrina refugees as well as Texans with friends and relatives in Louisiana and Mississippi asking about road conditions.

“Right now, the best thing for anyone in Texas who fled Louisiana or Mississippi to do is to stay put,” said Scott Alley, TxDOT’s emergency management coordinator. “Our hearts go out to these people, but right now, it would only make things worse for them to try to go home.”

As the flooding in New Orleans worsened today, the Texas Department of Transportation offered assistance to the Louisiana Department of Transportation. But Alley said Louisiana officials are still assessing damage to the state’s transportation infrastructure and have made no specific requests.

Throughout the crisis, TxDOT’s two eastern-most travel information centers, on Interstate 10 at Orange and on Interstate 20 as Waskum, have assisted thousands of refugees with travel directions and in locating motel rooms.

“All we can say is that I-10 and I-20 are clear to Louisiana, but I-10 is closed beyond Baton Rouge,” said Alley. “If someone has to get back into Louisiana, even though they can’t get into the New Orleans area, the best choice is to take I-20. But we don’t advise that.”

TxDOT in the Beaumont District is using its electronic signs to warn motorists that I-10 is closed at Baton Rouge, about 160 miles east of the Texas state line. Alley stressed that Baton Rouge is not a sensible destination at this point. “No motel rooms are available, and there is only limited shelter,” he said.

For those wishing more specific information on conditions in Louisiana, that state’s transportation agency is responding to calls at 1-800-469-4828.

The road condition number for Alabama is 1-888-588-2848. Mississippi’s DOT does not have an 800-number.

For more information, contact Mike Cox, TxDOT Public Information Office at (512) 936-4241.