Evacuation Studies

Disasters of a regional scope can occur at any time. The landfall of a major hurricane, wildfires, acts of terrorism, and radiation releases from a nuclear incident are examples of the types of events that can have widespread impact. Rarely are the effects of a disaster limited to one county, including the need for evacuation of vulnerable areas. As an example, evacuation of the entire Monroe County population is mandatory when a category 3, 4 or 5 hurricane threatens. How do vehicles moving from Monroe to Miami-Dade impact congestion on regional roadways? How does development in southern Miami-Dade impact the evacuation time for Monroe County residents?

A regional view of evacuation planning provides local governments sharing common evacuation routes with better decision-making tools. By including the neighboring jurisdictions’ potential impact on their ability to relocate their own vulnerable populations, Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe County governments can work together more effectively to ensure the safety of their residents. Similarly, regional studies of evacuation planning should be consistent across the state to enable information gathering and analyses to occur across regions (i.e., Southeast Florida and the Treasure Coast).

Two studies undertaken by the South Florida Regional Planning Council focus on evacuation planning:

Statewide Regional Evacuation 
Study Program

     
 2006 South Florida Regional Hurricane Evacuation Traffic Study