Multi-Modal Mass Evacuation in Upstate New York: A Review of Disaster Plans
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Daniel Baldwin Hess
The devastating aftermath from Hurricane Katrina accentuates the need for localized disaster planning that considers those without access to automobiles—including the poor, elderly, and disabled. Planning for evacuation during extreme events should consider the "carless" by paying special attention to the movement of people to safety using a combination of methods—by foot, public transit, coaches, and vans. Many Upstate New York places are ill prepared for the large-scale evacuation of the carless that may result from an extreme event. The share of households without vehicles in several Upstate cities—Albany (28 percent), Buffalo (31 percent), and Syracuse (27 percent)—surprisingly meets or exceeds the share in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck. This study identifies strengths and weaknesses within upstate written disaster plans in regards to multi-modal evacuation. Findings suggest that many upstate places—except for those near nuclear power plants—have inadequate written plans for mass evacuation, especially when considering the carless population. We recommend future research directions to include wide samples, best practices for carless evacuations, and development of multi-modal evacuation models.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Related Research Article
- Relevant Research in Other Publications
- Book Review
- Review of The Storm by Ivor van Heerden
- Review of System Under Stress
- Review of Technology in Emergency Management
- Review of Disaster Response and Homeland Security
- Review of Introduction to International Disaster Management
- Communication/News
- Building an Emergency Response Competency System: Optimizing Emergency Personnel Mobilization
- So Are You Still Active in the Field, Or Do You Just Teach?
- Toward a National Hazards Risk Assessment
- Ready, Set, Go: Recruitment, Training, Coordination, and Retention Values for All-Hazard Partnerships
- Testimony on Needed Emergency Management Reforms
- GIS Maps to Communicate Emergency Preparedness: How Useable Are They for Inner City Residents?
- Research Article
- Community Training in Bioterror Response
- Multi-Modal Mass Evacuation in Upstate New York: A Review of Disaster Plans
- An Assessment of the Cultural Appropriateness of Emergency Preparedness Communication for Low Income Minorities
- Systems Dynamics Model of Al-Qa'ida and United States "Competition"
