There were four stories on this.  The latest story is first,
followed in reverse order.  Important to notice is that this was a
"Classified shipment" (see second story) of anti-aircraft missiles,
that no one had been notified were being transported through the
country (on New Year's Eve, yet!) and that they were supposedly
being shipped from California to Texas, via ILLINOIS and ALABAMA.

ARTICLE 1 of 4 ARTICLES
AP 01/01
   MONROE, La. (AP) -- About 1,000 residents returned home Friday
after ringing in the new year as evacuees because a truck carrying
Army anti-aircraft missiles swerved across an interstate highway and
crashed.
   The tractor-trailer rig jumped a 30-foot canal and came to rest
in the carport of a house where about 16 men were playing dominoes
Thursday.
   "We heard a bang, one hell of a bang," said Frederick Hayes, one
of those inside the house when the truck hit.
   Bomb experts from Barksdale Air Force Base, about 100 miles to
the west, were brought in to take the Hawk missiles off the flatbed
and check them for damage. A three-mile stretch of Interstate 20 was
closed for about 18 hours until they finished their work late Friday
morning.
   The missiles were not damaged, said police Capt. Tommy Poland.
   The truck spilled some diesel fuel, which fire units washed down
and covered with dirt and sand to prevent fire, Police Chief Joe
Stewart said. He said the only other thing that could have set off
the missiles would be compression.
   The shipment, with a driver and a backup driver, originated in
Concord, Calif., he said.
   It was en route to the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas,
following stops in Illinois and Alabama. *** The truck was owned by
a private private company contracted by the Army.
   "It was westbound on I-20, just entering the city limits,"
Stewart said. "For some reason we do not know at this time, the
18-wheeler crossed the median, crossed the eastbound lanes, jumped a
30-foot concrete canal, went through a chain link fence and came to
rest under the carport of a house."
   "It is a classified shipment. It is not classified due to the
explosives, but probably because of the technology," Stewart said.
   Stewart said he was not warned that the shipment would be moving
through his city.
   "This military ordnance is shipped by interstate highway on a
regular basis," Stewart said. "But on New Year's Eve, this came as a
hell of a surprise."
   The truck's driver, Bob McGregor, 47, of Florida, and his wife,
Marion, 58, were in stable condition Friday at St. Francis Medical
Center.
   No charges had been filed Friday. Stewart said investigators had
been able to talk to the driver only briefly.
   The missiles were taken to the Texarkana depot, Poland said.
   Hayes said McGregor was able to escape the rig and the men inside
the house were able to free Mrs. McGregor and get the couple away
from the leaking fuel.