Evacuation Planning

Evacuation Planning Process

Prior disaster experience has been shown to be a predictor of preparedness and planning. Despite the relationship, research has revealed that prior evacuation behavior is a strong predictor of future evacuation behavior, whereas disaster experience is not. Evacuation is a useful response to risks such as hurricanes, floods, chemical releases, nuclear power plant accidents, terrorist attacks, and volcanic eruptions. In some emergencies, however, evacuation is not the best action to take. For example, a major cause of fatalities in flash floods is attempted evacuation in a vehicle. As a result, a component of evacuation planning is the consideration of an extended range of alternatives, such as vertical evacuation for floods and hurricanes, and in-place sheltering for tornadoes and earthquakes.

Evacuation is an obvious, pre-crisis strategy for mitigating the negative consequences associated with a particular extreme event. Pre-crisis evacuation may also serve to reinforce morale because it has the ability to reinforce the beliefs of citizens that authorities are looking out for their interests in a crisis. Post-impact evacuation may enable victims to more easily obtain necessities such as food, water, medication, and shelter.

[Page 189]When community evacuation becomes necessary, it is common for local officials to provide information to the public through the media. In some crises, other warning methods, such as sirens, telephone calls (including what is known as reverse 911), and text messages are also used. Agencies at several levels of government offer literature and recommendations for evacuation planning, such as keeping adequate gas in a primary vehicle for an evacuation. Support is given for this procedure because gas stations may be closed during an emergency, or it may be impossible for gas stations to distribute fuel during a power outage. Although states such as Texas have emergency highway vehicles to assist motorists with refueling their vehicle, this is not common in all municipalities.

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