Evacuations in the News

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.

April 8-14, 2013

Structural or Chemical Fires or Explosions

• New Haven, Connecticut (apartment fire)
• Lafayette, Indiana (apartment fire)
• Bel Air, Maryland (school fire)

Floods & Mudslides

• South Jordan, Utah (rockslide)

Hazardous Materials

• O'Fallon, Illinois (gas leak)
• Waco, Texas (freon leak)
• Kansas City, Kansas (strong odor)

Malevolent Events

• Calcutta, Ohio (suspicious device)
• Los Angeles, California (suspicious substance)
• Houston, Texas (bomb threat)

Planning and Analysis

• Washington, DC (Update Transit Evacuation Signs)

Archives

An archived listing of Evacuations in the News.