Modernized Hurricane Evacuation Studies — Taking the Traditional Hurricane Evacuation Study to a New Level

For almost 30 years, the standard for conducting Hurricane Evacuation Studies (HES) was determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A traditional HES consist of the following five major analyses: (Hazards- Estimating wind and surge hazards; Vulnerability- Identifies areas, populations and facilities vulnerable to a storm's effects; Behavioral- estimates behavioral tendencies of the threatened population; Shelter- Inventory and assessment of public shelter facilities and locations and Transportation- Estimates of the clearance times required for a safe and timely evacuation of the threatened population). All relevant technical data supporting a HES is compiled and presented in a Technical Data Report (TDR). This TDR becomes the HES reference document for all back-up data. A Modernized Hurricane Preparedness Study will assess other hurricane effects on the community beyond the evacuation of the public at risk. Utilizing the power of GIS technologies, community officials will have a toolset to assist them in their decision making prior to and after a storm event and this will allow decisions to be made with more accurate and timely information.