Evacuate -- But How?

March 12, 2007 — -- Within the last 24 hours, communities on both coasts have found themselves under sudden and unsettling orders to leave their homes for their own safety -- to evacuate.

In Oneida, N.Y., hundreds of people were ordered out after a freight train carrying propane gas derailed and exploded. In Orange Co., Calif., it was a quick moving wildfire that led to the evacuation of about 500 homes. Disasters, even "mini-disasters," strike communities across the country with greater frequency than you might imagine. But who exactly is coming to the rescue?

Many Americans seem to think FEMA is tasked with evacuating homeowners from disaster, but that simply is not the case. When disaster strikes, local officials are on the front lines and they are the ones tasked with getting their citizens to safety.

In California, for instance, that means agencies in 58 counties all have their own plans. "We provide general guidance, but the decisions of when and how things happen are at a local level," says Eric Lamoureux with the California governor's Office of Emergency Services. But not all local governments are created equal, which can cause problems in the event of disaster.

In September 2005, a rush to flee Hurricane Rita wreaked havoc on Houston's Interstate 45, leading to enormous traffic backups and thousands of angry residents. The problems led to a review of evacuation plans. Debby Hassel, an official with the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center told local officials their evacuation plans need to be more regional and coordinated.

"We need to think about working together more than just thinking about our area," she said. In California, planners are keenly aware of the challenges. "We're actually in the process right now of reviewing all our local plans in California, how they plan to deal with sheltering and the needs of shelters," Lamoureux says.

When it comes to shelters, local agencies do have one partner at the national level: The Red Cross. "Every single day Red Cross chapters are talking about pre planning with local fire and other agencies," says Renita Hosler with the American Red Cross. Hosler says her agency has a detailed database of 44,000 shelters nationwide ranging from local community churches and synagogues to civic arenas. "We literally have to have a facility person that we can call at all hours of the day and night-everywhere [at the shelters]. We need to know how many people could be held, entrances, facilities," she says.