I-20 closed??

[cjk374]

When I was going to Ruston this afternoon, I saw a small orange sign near MP 83 that read:  "I-20 closed 88 miles ahead   TAKE ALTERNATIVE ROUTE".   That puts the closure around Tallulah.  We had some very strong storms last night.  I was wondering if I-20 was closed due to storm damage or flooding from a fast-rising Mississippi River.  Anyone heard anything?   

[3467]

One of the most massive tornado outbreaks ever is underway . It should say go to I 10 because many many roads are closed including Interstates blocked by debris power lines and so on. All of north AL is w/o power

[SSF]

Starting around the Black Warrior River west of Tuscaloosa is an amazing display of what happened last night.  The trees in the median of 20/59 were just demolished and I believe a WB lane was closed for tree removal.  I would estimate nearly 75% of the trees had their tops sheared off by the storms.  Just an awe-inspiring site for anyone who thinks we can control the Earth.

[US71]

When I was going to Ruston this afternoon, I saw a small orange sign near MP 83 that read:  "I-20 closed 88 miles ahead   TAKE ALTERNATIVE ROUTE".   That puts the closure around Tallulah.  We had some very strong storms last night.  I was wondering if I-20 was closed due to storm damage or flooding from a fast-rising Mississippi River.  Anyone heard anything?   

I can't find anything about bad weather around Tallulah.

[cjk374]

I believe I have answered my own question:

I made another trip to Slidell Friday.  The day before, I noticed the sign was gone, but it wasn't really "gone"....

When I went to Slidell, I took a closer look at these signs that read: "LOUISIANA buckle up...it's the law".  There are a few of these along I-20 only on the east bound side.  These signs are actually fold-up signs that give this message for detouring I-20 in case something goes wrong with the MS River bridge.  In fact, something did go wrong with the bridge a few years ago with the bridge.  I don't remember the name of this particular bridge piece, but it failed and I-20 was detoured (IIRC the story that I was told) to Natchez and Greenville.  The National Guard even had to airlift the piece to the bridge.  I guess these signs are for "just in case" that or anything else (barge running into a bridge pier, e.g.) happens again.

I guess the bad weather we had Tuesday night must've blown the sign open.  My bad.   

[SSF]

The MS River bridge was also hit by a barge at Vicksburg, that ongoing work might have been the reason for the closure.