Emergency Transportation Operations
photos of traffic merging onto congested highway, congestion in snowstorm, variable message sign, cargo, variable speed limit sign in a work zone, and a freeway at night
Office of Operations 21st Century Operations using 21st Century Technologies

Evacuations in the News

Photograph showing two adjacent highway bridges along a hillside. Both highways appear to have broken into several pieces due to a natural disaster, such as an earthquake.

Evacuation operations occur throughout the nation on a daily basis. Local jurisdictions manage evacuations, whether a solitary building with 50 to 100 residents or an entire city. Expertise in evacuation planning and operations lies with local authorities. State and Federal governments can only support local jurisdictions in their efforts to safeguard their citizens through evacuations. To demonstrate the fact that evacuations constitute daily emergency operations throughout the United States, the Federal Highway Administration offers a synopsis of where the events occur and hope that peer to peer exchanges may be generated through this knowledge.

FHWA collects Google alerts on evacuations and encourages readers to use the web tool to research additional information on topics of interest. While most events occurred within the United States, FHWA will occasionally include international events of significance that offer unique perspectives on evacuation operations or that may result in after-action reports. For additional guidance on transportation-specific evacuation planning and operations, we invite you to search this web site.

The following evacuations took place during the past week.

October 26 to November 1, 2009

Tropical Storms (TS), Hurricanes (HU), Typhoons (TY) & Cyclones (CY)

  • Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan provinces, Viet Nam (Typhoon Mirinae)
  • Catanduanes Province and coastal areas of Quezon Province, Philippines (Typhoon Mirinae)
  • Taguig City, Philippines (Typhoon Santi)

Floods

  • Bossier & Caddo parishes, Louisiana
  • Liberty County, Texas
  • Shannon Hills, Arkansas

Structural or Chemical Fires

  • El Dorado, Arkansas (fire at chemical plant)
  • Monticello, Indiana (fire at business)

Hazardous Materials

  • Chico, California (natural gas leak)
  • Cincinnati, Ohio (50 20-lb. containers of black powder-unstable pyrodex-found in home)

Malevolent Acts

  • Los Vegas, Nevada (search for robbery suspect)

Planning and Analysis

  • To aid in evacuating populations in the event of rising floodwaters, South King County, Washington, began installing evacuation signs on key roads in unincorporated areas on November 2. In addition, the transit system produced a revised bus service plan for about 30 regular routes when service can no longer be operated due to flooding and identified existing routes that may be suspended until roadways can be reopened.
  • Kern County, California, supervisors approved a Isabella Lake dam failure evacuation plan on October 27 and encouraged residents to plan for evacuations in the event of a dam failure.
  • EPA assessment of a chemical leak at a Freeport, Louisiana, chemical plant the weekend of October 24-25, was a highly toxic TDI which could affect skin, eyes and breathing. Dow Chemical, owner of the plant, originally claimed that the chemical was not dangerous. Residents were upset that they were not alerted and evacuated until 24 hours after the leak.
  • New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin defended his trip to Cuba, saying he brought back valuable lessons learned in evacuating populations.

Previous Week
October 19-25, 2009

Tropical Storms (TS), Hurricanes (HU), Typhoons (TY) & Cyclones (CY)

  • Coastal areas in CagayanValley, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Ilocos Norte provinces, Philippines (Typhoon Ramil [aka Lupit])
  • Los Cabos, Mexico (Hurricane Rick)

Floods

  • Haltom City, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas

Wild or Brush Fires

  • Watsonville, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
  • San Marcos, California

Structural or Chemical Fires

  • Salt Lake City, Utah (Tesoro Refinery fire)

Hazardous Materials

  • San Juan, Puerto Rico (explosion at the Caribbean Petroleum Corporation storage facility)
  • Bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota (gas leak caused evacuation of National Guard Armory and curling club)
  • Richland Hills, Ft. Worth, Texas (gas leak)
  • Washington, DC (broken gas line)
  • Nitro, West Virginia (gas leak)
  • Montreal, Quebec Province, Canada (gas leak)
  • Quebec City, Quebec Province, Canada (noxious fumes thought to be from old gas pipeline - evacuated twice in a week)
  • Dunellen, New Jersey (propane leak)

Malevolent Acts

  • Chattanooga, Tennessee (bomb threat to Blue Cross Blue Shield facilities)
  • Corbin & London, Kentucky (bomb threat to Vangent Communications)

Miscellaneous

  • St. Louis, Missouri (Lambert Airport evacuated twice due to malfunctioning sprinkler system)
  • Missaukee County Michigan (unstable windmill)

Planning and Analysis

  • Crews completed construction at the Montgomery Blair High School, Montgomery County, Maryland, that includes wider stairways for school evacuations.
  • New Orleans officials returned from a fact-finding trip to Cuba with lessons learned to aid in evacuations of the city. Cuba faced hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma last year. From the Cubans, the New Orleans team - including Mayor Ray Nagin, Police Superintendent Warren Riley and Fire Chief Charles Parent and Emergency Medical Services Director Juliette Saussy - especially learned new ways for caring for and evacuating the disabled and those needing help when a storm is approaching. The Cubans used pre-positioned medical teams that know their community and where the special needs individuals live, soldiers along highways to enforce evacuations and community block captains to help during evacuations. Cuba experienced lower death tolls following the hurricanes due to government-ordered, mandatory evacuations.
  • Commemorating the 6th anniversary (October 24) of the Old Fire that left six people dead, 940 homes destroyed and more than 91,000 acres scorched and cost $42 million, San Bernardino, California, officials say that those residents that were forced to evacuate and lost their homes continue to live in fear of fire threats.
  • Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency urged Jakarta officials to require that all buildings post up floor plans to speed up evacuations, as a lesson learned from last month's deadly West Sumatra earthquake.
  • During a post-fire and mudslide preparedness forum, La Cañada, California, public safety officials called the first rainstorm of the season a "wake-up call" for residents who live in areas threatened by mudslides.

Archives

An archived listing of Evacuations in the News.
Office of Operations