Evacuation Planning

Evacuation Planning is the process of developing strategies, routes, and operational procedures for moving populations from areas threatened by natural disasters, industrial accidents, or other emergencies to safe locations. Effective evacuation plans must account for the geographic extent of the hazard, the size and characteristics of the affected population, the capacity of the transportation networkTransportation NetworkA Transportation Network is the interconnected system of roads, railways, waterways, and transit routes that enables ..., and the availability of shelters and resources along evacuation routes. GISGISGeographic Information Systems (GIS) enable users to analyze and visualize spatial data to uncover patterns, relation...-based evacuation modeling integrates hazard zone delineation (storm surge, wildfire, flood, chemical plume), population distribution from census and real-time sources, transportation network capacity, and shelter locations to simulate evacuation scenarios. Dynamic traffic assignment models predict how traffic builds on evacuation routes, identifying potential bottleneck locations where demand exceeds road capacity. Clearance time estimation calculates how long it takes to move all evacuees out of the hazard zone under different departure timing and route assignment assumptions. Applications include hurricane evacuation zone designation and route planning for coastal communities, wildfire evacuation modeling in the wildland-urban interface, nuclear power plant emergency planning zones, chemical facility risk planning, and dam breach inundation response. Contra-flow operations that reverse inbound highway lanes for outbound evacuation require detailed network analysisNetwork AnalysisNetwork analysis in GIS models and solves problems on linear networks such as roads, utilities, and waterways. It ena.... Special needs population identification and transportation ensures vulnerable residents who cannot self-evacuate receive assistance.