When Hurricane Gustav finally left the area late Monday night, many evacuees from New Orleans and points south decided to get in their cars and return to their homes.

However, New Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines�  and St. Bernard parishes officials have not opened their borders to returning residents.

This did not stop a crowd of vehicles that made their way through Slidell on their way back home Tuesday. They were met with a rude surprise.

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Louisiana State Police troopers, St. Tammany Sheriff'��s deputies and National Guardsmen blocked off the entrance to the south bound lanes of the U.S. Highway 11 bridge, the Interstate 10 twinspan bridge and the Oak Harbor exit in Slidell to returning evacuees.

'��This is just ridiculous,'�� said Ellis Tarleton, who with his wife and daughter are parked in the closed Exxon gas station at the corner of Oak Harbor Drive and Landmark Avenue. The Tarletons were returning from Alabama and had been parked in the station since 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Law enforcement officials were letting people in who had Tier One and Tier Two placards handed out before the evacuation to proceed across Lake Pontchartrain. The placards identified the evacuees as first responders, contractors or utility workers who are needed to clean up New Orleans before the residents return.

'��We understand how tough it is,'�� said an unidentified National Guardsman stationed at the U.S. 11 bridge. '��We don'��t like to do it, but right now it has to be done.'��

However, evacuees that are stopped in Slidell are not finding a welcoming city. Slidell has sporadic power, there is no gasoline, food or water, because most all stores are closed in the city. All they can do is sit in their parked cars like the Tarletons and wait for parish, state and local officials give the OK to move on.

Gretna resident Diane Ward, also waiting at the Oak Harbor gas station, is worried that she won'��t get her diabetic medicine in time.

'��I didn'��t think I'��d be away this long,'�� Ward said. '��Now I can'��t get my medicine.'��

Her son, Mike Ward, was angry at authorities. '��They weren'��t prepared for this. We were told there is hotels in Bay St. Louis, but we don'��t have the money for that.'��

Returning New Orleans residents had heard on the radio about the blockade, had pulled off I-10 at Gause Boulevard and were crowded into the Shell station.

Richard Webb had evacuated to Picayune, Miss., from New Orleans with his three cats, had been refused access to the I-10 twinspan. He returned to the Gause station and had been waiting there for four hours.

'��Next time there is a hurricane, I'��m going to stay.'���  Webb said.

Kenner resident Mike Schendel was coming back from Florida and had been told by friends that it was OK to return.

'��I guess I'��ll stay here until the bridge opens,'�� Schendel said. At least he had a big van to stay in equipped with television and a stove.'��

But Slidell authorities, though sympathetic to the evacuees do not want to stretch the city'��s limited resources as they struggle to recover from Gustav.

'��We don'��t even want the Slidell evacuees back right now,'�� Slidell police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said. '��We are asking everybody to be patient until we can let people in.'��

In a statement released by Mayor Ben Morris, the city wants to restore utilities and clean the streets of trees and power lines before letting evacuees back.

'��This measure also protects the property of the citizens who live in these areas by prohibiting entry by unauthorized individuals,'�� read the press release.

But evacuees like New Orleanian William Mackay think the authorities needed to do more to help the returning evacuees.

'��They could at least send a Red Cross truck with some food,'�� Mackay said.

Tarleton said that state and city authorities did a great job of evacuating Southeast Louisiana but needed to re-think the way the evacuees come home.

'��If they don'��t do something, they won'��t get people to leave the next time there is a hurricane,'�� Tarleton said.

The Twin Spans are now open into the city as of Tuesday night.