The Bell South building isn't under fire - if it was, it would show up in
Interdictor's journal who has a company just up the street. They're rather dependant on Bell South's OC3 line that feeds their servers and would be screaming bloody murder if that was under fire.
As for not walking out of the city I would wager the problem is Jefferson parish. I would have personally put water stations along that freeway all the way to the bus staging area and encourage every able person to get off their rumps and start walking.