yeah I don't get that... why wont they let people walk out!
Maybe other parishes don't want those people in their parish. After what I am seeing with some of the Orleans Parish folks, I don't blame them. Did you see the report that people going in the Astrodome were dumping their weapons in the bushes before they were searched. Were they planning to pick them up and use them again?
First, I'm not sure that's true, although I have read stories that assert being denied passage by authorities.
The rationale is control of the situation. What happens if 10,000 people, some of them angry, start roaming as a "mob?" How do you provide relief if you don't have some control over location points?