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NEXT ARTICLE The Transportation Aspect of Disaster Planning By Barbara Feeney, AICP With the multitude of responsibilities pulling at community planners and administrators, it is no surprise that there is a temptation to postpone planning for a catastrophic event that may never come. Yet, events that occurred in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita provide convincing evidence for the need to do so. Every community in a zone that could be affected by a natural disaster has the obligation to develop a plan that can be implemented when catastrophe strikes. Local historians and a variety of experts can assist in evaluating the likelihood of a natural disaster. Communities also need to evaluate the extent to which they should prepare for the unnatural disaster—such as an accidental chemical release, or a terrorist release of deadly chemical or nuclear materials. The experiences of 9/11 and the hurricanes of 2005 demonstrate what are perhaps the most critical elements of disaster planning—an effective chain of command and a communications system involving all entities that have a response role, at all levels of government. Planning for Transportation A key element in responding to a disaster requiring evacuation is that of transportation. According to Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita exposed two opposite weaknesses in disaster response. In New Orleans, there was a devastating failure to have a plan to evacuate those who had no vehicle—some of these individuals also had other barriers, such as disability or limited mobility due to age. In Texas, the weakness appeared to be the failure to plan for too many private vehicles flooding onto evacuation routes. No simple, one-size-fits-all formula is obvious. An evaluation of each community’s needs and points of vulnerability is needed. For starters, some rough-sketch estimates are needed of:
Transit has a critical role in efficiently moving large numbers of people quickly out of a disaster zone. Giving priority to transit vehicles on the evacuation route is efficient and would encourage the use of transit. While the use of private vehicles can be questioned in a time of disaster, they allow households to go to homes of family or friends outside the disaster area—thus not burdening whatever emergency shelter system is devised for those who are evacuated by other means. Disaster planners may wish to consider prohibiting single-occupant vehicles from entering evacuation routes and prohibiting the towing of trailers, boats and campers which consume valuable road capacity. Evaluating the appropriate role of private vehicles requires some initial road capacity estimation. Restricting the use of private vehicles will be unacceptable to the public unless some analysis has been done as part of a thorough planning effort that demonstrates the need. The use of inbound lanes for outbound travelers is an obvious means to quickly increase evacuation route capacity. Nonetheless, experiences in Texas demonstrate the need to reserve some inbound lanes for moving resources into the disaster zone. Inbound lanes are also needed to deploy transit vehicles back into the affected areas to pick up additional passengers. Planning for the evacuation of individuals with limited mobility (the elderly and/or disabled) is a complicated venture. One obvious target is the concentration of individuals in care facilities. Any evacuation plan should consider how to quickly deploy transit vehicles and personnel that are able to accommodate special needs such as wheelchairs, oxygen devices and other critical medical devices. Existing social and service organizations have a role to play in evacuating limited mobility individuals that are dispersed throughout a community. A community-wide disaster planning effort should encourage churches, social clubs, senior centers and other similar organizations to develop a "buddy system" where individuals without mobility are paired with someone who has the means to assist them. These networks can lighten the burden on the public sector, yet do not eliminate the need for public sector planning. The fall-back for those without other assistance could be a phone-in system to request transportation out of the disaster area. Planning for adequate telephone line and dispatcher capacity is critical to making this system work. Such a system needs to accommodate non-English speakers and persons with auditory and vocal disabilities. For individuals who have personal mobility but no vehicle, pre-identified transit pick-up locations could be used. Here again, the command structure must be ready to deploy transit vehicles, and the public must know ahead of time where the stops are located. These locations could also be used by individuals who are able to accommodate additional passengers in their private vehicles. One easily overlooked issue is personnel. Disaster planning should designate critical personnel that are expected to participate in evacuation activities. Bus drivers, health care workers, care facility administrators and workers, and telephone dispatchers are among those that would be essential in times of disaster. To ensure that these workers are comfortable staying on the job, an evacuation plan for their families is needed. Another issue is how the evacuation of school children will be handled if a disaster strikes while school is in session. Parents would be unwilling to leave without their children unless there is a widely-known plan for transporting children to safety. Without such a plan, the nightmare scenario to unfold is hundreds of vehicles clogging streets near schools and delaying the evacuation of all. The plan must include a systematic approach for evacuating children and re-uniting them with their parents. Getting Started The effort to develop a disaster response plan is significant, and every community must evaluate the level of risk it faces and the degree of planning effort that the risk requires. An effective plan requires a truly collaborative approach. Technical analysis and internal government planning alone will not be sufficient because there are challenging issues related to how individuals react at times of crisis. Addressing the needs of the most at-risk individuals requires a flexible and community-based approach. Community buy-in will be essential because successful results depend upon citizen cooperation. Community education must be early and on-going because a time of crisis is no time to start the conversation. For those communities looking to start a disaster planning process, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Civil Rights is a source of good information, particularly related to special needs of individuals with limited mobility. The DOT/OCR website is a useful starting point. In Wisconsin, the Department of Emergency Management is an additional resource. Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) can be key partners in the planning process and could be tapped for assistance with matters such as estimating evacuation route capacity. They are already an established forum for communities in metropolitan areas to collaborate on transportation planning issues and may be able lead the planning effort. Their potential role is discussed in a paper by Michael D. Meyer, referenced below. Barbara Feeney is a senior transportation planner at Short Elliot and Hendrickson Inc. References Cahalan, Clare and John Renne. "Emergency Evacuation of the Elderly and Disabled." Intransition. Spring 2007.
Litman, Todd. Meyer, Michael D. " The Role of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) in Preparing for Security Incidents and Transportation System Response." Georgia Institute of Technology. |
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