The U.S. surface transportation system plays a crucial role in responding not only to natural disasters but also to terrorist events and technological incidents. At the national level, the Disaster Response and Evacuation (DRE) user service has available an “intelligent” transportation system to respond to and recover from such disasters. The user service provides personnel and other resources that constitute an essential component of the disaster response effort, and uses various information technology systems to prioritize, allocate, and strategize response evacuations.
Broad interagency coordination is critical in almost all disaster scenarios as well as in training and exercise plans. A major disaster may severely damage the transportation system within the area affected by the disaster, especially if facilities, equipment, and infrastructure are damaged, and may well disrupt communications as well. All of those facilities and systems already would be under significant pressure, of course, from outbound evacuees, inbound mutual-aid operational resources, inbound state and federal operational resources, outbound returning mutual-aid operational resources, inbound support shipments, inbound unscheduled donations, inbound returning evacuees, and outbound state and federal resources.
The emergency or disaster requiring an evacuation will vary considerably, particularly in the patterns and plans previously put in place to respond effectively to a spectrum of potential scenarios, including the following:
1. Catastrophic event with warning – i.e., an event, such as a major hurricane or devastating land fire, during which citizens may have to either evacuate or shelter in place (and later seek evacuation, and probably be placed on a timeline);
2. Disruptive event with warning – an event such as a violent storm or a hazardous-materials incident, during which citizens may have to evacuate but probably will be able to return to their homes within a reasonable period of time;
3. Catastrophic event without warning – an event such as a terrorist attack or tornado during which citizens would have to take immediate action to protect themselves and possibly would not be able to return to their homes in the foreseeable future (this category of events may or may not involve evacuation); and
4. Disruptive event without warning – an event such as a tornado, a bridge collapse (or other transportation disaster), during which citizens would have to take immediate action to protect themselves (as with catastrophic events without warning, this type of event may or may not involve evacuation, but citizens usually would be able to return to their homes).
The Commonwealth’s Common-Sense Example
A best-practice example of how each and all of these event categories should be managed is available from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Emergency Management (VDEM), which assigns responsibility for the coordination of evacuation operations to the Virginia Evacuation Coordination Team for Operational Response (VECTOR), a unit of the Operations Section of the Virginia Emergency Response Team (VERT).VECTOR membership represents several key agencies – including not only VDEM but also the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Virginia State Police, the Virginia National Guard, the Virginia Department of Social Services, and the Virginia Department of Tourism. At the top of a long list of agencies with important and specific operational responsibilities would be the Virginia Department of Transportation – which is tasked to assist with traffic control (in accordance with the highway laws of Virginia and the policies of the State Highway Commission) in the event of an emergency requiring evacuation; VDOT also would assist with the media outreach efforts of evacuation education pre-event (and notification during an event) with regards to the highway routes to be followed; in moving motorists to what are called “refuges of last resort” as an “event with warning” approaches; and in providing its own subject-matter expertise to other state agencies as and when needed.
The Virginia State Police coordinate traffic control (also in accordance with the highway laws of Virginia and the policies of the State Highway Commission) in the event of an emergency requiring evacuation; that responsibility includes: (a) the coordination of resources and information with local law-enforcement officials to assist in directing motorists – to the previously mentioned refuges of last resort – as an event with warning approaches; and (b) providing subject-matter expertise to other state agencies.
The Virginia National Guard assists with traffic control in the event of an emergency evacuation, and also assists in directing motorists to refuges of last resort as an event with warning approaches. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles assists with the movement, to approved refuges, of motorists stranded along established evacuation routes. The Virginia Port Authority recommends policies, procedures, and projects necessary for the implementation of evacuation plans for the Commonwealth’s waterways.
An Appropriate Division of Tasks and Responsibilities
Similarly, the Virginia Department of Aviation recommends policies, procedures, and projects necessary for the implementation of evacuation plans for the Commonwealth via air; and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation recommends policies, procedures, and projects necessary for the implementation of Commonwealth evacuation plans via mass transit and/or rail (this is a particularly important responsibility in such highly urbanized jurisdictions as Northern Virginia, Richmond, Virginia Beach, and the Hampton Roads area).The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Authority recommends policies, procedures, and projects for implementing an evacuation using the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel facilities. The Virginia Department of Mines, Mineral, and Energy assists in the provision of fuel sources, including alternative fueling sources, both for evacuees and for support agencies.
The Virginia Department of Health provides guidance and technical assistance to local jurisdictions, medical facilities, and home health care agencies, such as those responsible for long-term care facilities and/or for planning and carrying out the emergency evacuation and/or relocation of medically dependent persons. The Virginia Department of Social Services assists in the selection and preparation of sites suitable for serving as refuges of last resort. The management of this task not only augments the evacuation process but also provides the shelter occupancy data needed to facilitate the movement of traffic along pre-designated evacuation routes.
All of the agencies participating know they should use 2-1-1 and/or contact the Virginia Public Information Center (VPIC) to assist with pre-event outreach efforts to educate citizens on evacuation procedures and to help notify citizens during an event regarding the evacuation routes to be followed – also to monitor, coordinate, and manage shelter activations and sequencing.
Finally, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management itself recommends policies, procedures, and projects necessary for the overall implementation of evacuation plans for the Commonwealth. VDEM also is responsible for facilitating training on evacuation plans across state agencies and local government agencies; providing subject-matter expertise to a broad spectrum of other agencies and localities as needed; publishing approved policy guidelines, including performance measures; coordinating evacuation efforts with external (i.e., non-Commonwealth) agencies, including various federal, local, and neighboring-state jurisdictions; and using the 2-1-1 system.
Kay C. Goss
Kay Goss has been the president of World Disaster Management since 2012. She is the former senior assistant to two state governors, coordinating fire service, emergency management, emergency medical services, public safety, and law enforcement for 12 years. She then served as the Associate Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director for National Preparedness, Training, Higher Education, Exercises, and International Partnerships (presidential appointee, U.S. Senate confirmed unanimously). She was a private sector government contractor for 12 years at the Texas firm Electronic Data Systems as a senior emergency manager and homeland security advisor and SRA International’s director of emergency management services. She is a senior fellow at the National Academy for Public Administration and serves as a nonprofit leader on the Board of Advisors for DRONERESPONDERS International and for the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management. She has also been a graduate professor of Emergency Management at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas for 16 years, İstanbul Technical University for 12 years, the MPA Programs Metropolitan College of New York for five years, and George Mason University. She has been a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) for 25 years and a Featured International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) CEM Mentor for five years, and chair of the Training and Education Committee for six years, 2004-2010.
