BEIRUT, March 2 (Xinhua) -- On the highway leading north from southern Lebanon, vehicles stood bumper to bumper for kilometers under a pale morning sky. Engines idled. Horns blared in restless bursts. The traffic's roar mixed with children's cries and the tense calls of parents trying to hold families together.
Pickup trucks stacked with mattresses, folded blankets and plastic bags inched forward. Sedans sagged under the weight of whole households crammed into backseats. Motorcycles threaded between lanes, riders scanning the horizon as if speed still mattered.
The exodus captured a widening wave of displacement as Israeli airstrikes intensified across villages along the border.
In the backseat of a stalled car on the Nabatieh-Sidon road, Farida Abdullah, 50, held her five-year-old son close, her face etched with exhaustion.
"We left at dawn after the strikes," she said. "We took only what was necessary."
She glanced at the unmoving line ahead. "Our only concern was reaching somewhere safe. We didn't want to leave, but the shelling is violent and continuous."
Lebanese security sources reported severe congestion on main and secondary roads, with hours-long jams at multiple intersections. Some drivers abandoned side routes after finding them equally blocked.
At a gas station in Zahrani, vehicles formed a second line. Drivers stretched stiff legs while waiting, knowing the fuel in their tanks would decide how far they could flee.
"We don't know how long this will last," said Ali Nasser, a pickup driver, wiping sweat from his forehead. "We're heading toward safer areas before roads close or airstrikes intensify."
Many residents, he said, chose to leave before warnings were issued. "People prefer to move early rather than risk being trapped."
In emptying villages, storefronts closed early, metal shutters rolling down with heavy finality. Streets that usually hummed with afternoon life fell still, broken only by the distant echo of northbound traffic.
"This reminds us of previous displacements," said Jalal Issa, a shop owner who closed before noon. Many families, he said, left behind crops and personal property, locking their doors without knowing when they would return.
Civil defense and Lebanese Red Cross teams stationed along evacuation routes distributed water and directed families to shelters. Public schools, municipal buildings and community centers farther from the border began receiving families by midday.
Talal Al-Halabi, a Lebanese Red Cross official, said his teams were coordinating with local and international groups to distribute mattresses, blankets and food.
"Priority goes to families with children, the elderly and the sick," he said. Teams were registering arrivals to organize assistance, he added, but cautioned that resources remained limited, strained further by Lebanon's economic crisis.
In areas receiving the displaced -- Hasbaya, the Chouf and parts of Mount Lebanon -- the first signs of strain emerged. Already fragile electricity grids buckled under the added load. Water supplies and telecommunications systems struggled with the sudden surge.
At one reception center, volunteers moved quickly between arriving families.
"We're trying to organize as best we can, but the numbers are increasing rapidly," said Dalal Hamid, a volunteer. "We don't yet have an official figure, but they're in the thousands."
Observers warn that further escalation would deepen the humanitarian crisis in a country already crippled by economic collapse.
"We are leaving today, but our hearts remain here," Samar Fakhss said as she gathered belongings in Nabatieh. "No one wants to leave their home willingly. We are deeply anxious." ■
