Preventative Measures2005 Hurricanes Prompt Evacuation Study, Recommendations

This month marks not only the peak of the 2006 hurricane season, but the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Rita, a Category 3 storm that plowed into the Gulf Coast early Sept. 24, 2005, spreading wreckage across some 22 Texas counties. Take Jasper County, for instance. Before Rita, the county had 641 miles of passable county roadways. After Rita, each and every road was cut off, choked by fallen trees and debris.
In her early days, Rita had grown to a Category 5 hurricane and at times was on a projected path toward Galveston, and later Houston, prompting mass evacuations before making eventual landfall near Port Arthur.
A mere three weeks earlier, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast near New Orleans causing widespread flooding and devastating loss of life and property. In the following days, some 400,000 evacuees sought shelter in Texas.
These two storms and the resulting waves of evacuations prompted the formation of The Texas Task Force on Evacuation, Transportation, and Logistics, established by Gov. Rick Perry, Houston Mayor Bill White, and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels. The goal of the Task Force was to improve evacuation procedures for major cities in Texas.
To gather information for its final report, the Task Force held public hearings almost once a week from Oct. 25, 2005, until Dec. 13, 2005. During the public hearings, the Task Force invited state and local officials and additional stakeholders including evacuees, school officials, charitable organizations, relief workers, hospitals, medical personnel, individuals with special needs, and their caregivers. The Task Force also offered citizens the opportunity to give testimonies. Meeting locations varied in Texas cities such as Houston, Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, South Padre, San Antonio, and Beaumont.
The final Task Force report was released on Feb. 14, 2006, and can be viewed in full at http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem/pages/index.htm; click on “REPORT: Governor’s Task Force on Evacuation, Transportation, and Logistics.” The report included the following key areas that were the items most often addressed during the public hearings. Each area included a narrative on concerns, findings and recommendations.
Command, control and communication
Evacuation of people with special needs
Fuel availability
Flow of traffic
Public awareness.
As a result of the final report recommendations, Gov. Rick Perry issued the Executive Order RP57 on March 21, 2006. This executive order has led to the implementation of some of the Texas Task Force recommendations that were included in the final report. The executive order instructs respective offices and officials on their roles and responsibilities regarding the recommendations being enacted. It provides that the State Director of Homeland Security will ensure the executive order is carried out consistent with the final report and recommendations of the Texas Task Force.
Command, Control, and Communications
The Emergency Management Directors including county judges and mayors within each of the state’s 24 Council of Governments will be responsible for establishing a Regional Unified Command Structure (RUCS). Each region will have an Incident Commander who will be the point of contact within the region during the disaster response, including mass evacuation. As stated by the Executive Order, each RUCS will be established by April 18, 2006. Also, the name of a person and qualifications of the Incident Commander should go to the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management by April 20, 2006. The Texas Department of Public Safety will be the lead in command, control, and communications and other operational tasks, as directed by the governor, during evacuations and other disaster response operations that involve multiple RUCSs.
The Executive Order also cites many tasks for the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management including:
Creating eight Regional Response Teams (RRTs) to support multi-jurisdictional operations.
Developing a statewide hurricane evacuation and shelter plan.
Overseeing the implementation of regional responses and evacuation plans within the state.
Coordinating with independent school districts and public colleges, universities, and the university system to provide transportation and facilities to support the execution of state and local evacuation and shelter plans. (In addition, the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management will develop policies for reimbursement to school districts and public colleges, universities, and university systems for evacuation, shelter and transportation expenses.)
Leading and directing annual hurricane evacuation exercises.
Evacuation of People with Special Needs
The Governor’s Division of Emergency Management will coordinate with the Department of State Health and Human Services, the Department of Aging and Disability Services, the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities, and other state agencies to define special needs and develop an evacuation and shelter plan that supports the requirements of the people with special needs. The above agencies, along with appropriate stakeholder groups, will work to develop criteria for the evacuation plans for special needs facilities, including both licensed and unlicensed facilities. The plan will also address the special needs population and the evacuation and sheltering needs of their service animals.
Additional tasks for the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management include:
Ensuring local jurisdictions and RUCSs approve evacuation plans maintained by special needs facilities.
Developing and implementing a statewide database to assist in the evacuation of people with special needs, especially jurisdictions on the coast having priority. Each RUCS will be responsible for collecting and providing information for the database.
Fuel Availability and Distribution
The Texas Department of Transportation will coordinate with the Texas Oil and Gas Association and other industry partners to develop a plan to address fuel availability along major evacuation routes and establish a fuel operations function in the State Operations Center to coordinate the distribution of fuel prior to and during evacuations.
Tasks for the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management include:
Working with local officials to develop evacuation plans that address fuel availability during an evacuation
Establishing fuel procedures for distribution during an emergency like an evacuation
Developing policies and procedures at the Division of Emergency Management to reimburse local governments and other support entities for evacuation fuel-related expenses in the event that the Texas Legislature or United States Congress designates funding for that purpose.
Traffic Control and Management
The Texas Department of Public Safety will oversee traffic management of the evacuation routes during multi-jurisdictional evacuations. Also, the Texas Department of Public Safety, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Customs and Border Patrol, is taking steps to expedite the flow of traffic through checkpoints on major hurricane evacuation routes and assist in the development of traffic management plans to accommodate mass populations at checkpoints.
Tasks for the Texas Department of Transportation include:
Coordinating with the Texas Department of Public Safety to develop contraflow plans for major hurricane routes that were identified by the Texas Task Force final report.
Implementing short- and long-term solutions to reduce congestion on the one-lane section of the U.S. Highway 290 at Brenham during evacuations.
Starting the implementation of the infrastructure projects recommended in the March 2005 report to the Governor on Texas Hurricane Preparedness. (The report addresses the obstructions on evacuation routes during mass evacuations.)
Public Awareness
The Public Utility Commission is to work with utility companies that are regulated by the Commission and serve counties in hurricane evacuation zones to include hurricane preparedness and evacuation-related public awareness information in monthly billing statements prior to and during the hurricane season each year.