Methodology to Establish Hurricane Evacuation Zones

Abstract

A review of practice in hurricane evacuation modeling reveals that the criteria determining the delineation of hurricane evacuation zones have not been clearly defined. In addition, there is no recommended procedure with which to establish hurricane evacuation zones once criteria have been accepted. A set of criteria has been adopted in this paper to design a procedure that mechanically establishes a recommended set of hurricane evacuation zones for an area. The procedure, which is based on a geographic information systems platform, is described, and its use is demonstrated for establishing hurricane evacuation zones for the northern part of the New Orleans, Louisiana, metropolitan area on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. The procedure can be applied to any area, and although it is specifically directed at identifying evacuation zones for hurricanes, it could be used for any emergency in which flooding is the major hazard, or it could be adapted to other emergency situations for which evacuation is an appropriate response.