The goal of this study was to collect and document information on transportation’s role in emergency evacuation and reentry by summarizing aspects of its planning, control, and research, as well as highlighting effective and innovative practices. The review of practice showed that transportation plays an active role in supporting and assisting in evacuations. Transportation personnel are involved before, during, and after evacuations by managing and maintaining transportation systems, including traffic control, monitoring, planning, and management. After an event they are involved in managing debris removal and signal restoration for reentry and the monitoring and inspection of critical infrastructure. Transportation professionals also bring expert knowledge and a situational awareness of transportation systems into an emergency response. In states with large rural areas and populations, departments of transportation are often one of the few agencies with manpower, equipment, and communication assets in remote areas that can be used to evacuate people to safety. Among the best defined and well developed roles of transportation in evacuations are in the areas of direction and control of highway networks. One high profile and effective recent innovation has been the development of contraflow for “all lanes out” mass evacuations. In areas with the need to evacuate more dispersed populations, the role played by transportation is to keep evacuees and decision makers informed about which routes are open and which routes should be used as alternates. Contrary to commonly held views, transportation agencies responding to the practice survey did not convey an overwhelming feeling that their resources were overcommitted or inadequate to carry out a large-scale evacuation. The majority of transportation agencies also indicated they had adequate communication capabilities to carry out their role. The survey did, however, suggest that the greatest needs were for more financial and manpower resources dedicated to plan for and manage evacuations. A survey of evacuation policies and practices was conducted by means of a literature review and a survey of transportation and emergency management agencies. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting