Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription or Fee Access

Transportation for evacuations: The variation in planning between urban and rural cities

Natalie Easterday, BS

Abstract


A city’s emergency operation plan (EOP) establishes the framework for which all disaster-related activities will be administered. Seven communities’ EOPs were assessed to explore potential planning differences between urban and rural cities. Four urban and three rural communities were selected from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Regions V, VII, and VIII. The EOPs of the selected cities were evaluated against a comprehensive list of questions that explored pre-evacuation planning, operations, roles and responsibilities, communication, and postevacuation return. Within each category, the questions probed for the roles of public transportation in disaster situations. The results yielded several parallels between urban and rural communities in general evacuation planning, and these differences were not based on the city size. From this information, six suggested best practices were developed regarding the role of public transportation in emergency management.

Keywords


emergency management, transportation, evacuation, rural, urban, planning

Full Text:

PDF

References


Regional Operations Homepage: US Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency. Available at http://www.fema.gov/about/regions/index.shtm. Accessed July 4, 2007.

Decennial Census. US Census Bureau: Available at http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=DEC&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts=. Accessed July 4, 2007.

City of Indianapolis, Indiana. “undated.” Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. Available at http://www.indygov.org/NR/rdonlyres/CC4E65FC-436A-403C-B14A-3CB47CC7BFB5/0/CEMP.pdf. Accessed July 1, 2007.

City of Kansas City, Missouri. 2006. Evacuation and Transportation Services Plan. Available at http://www.kcmo.org/oem/evacplan.pdf. Assessed July 1, 2007.

City of Boulder, Colorado. “undated.” Emergency Operations Plan. Available at http://www.bouldercounty.org/sheriff/pdf/oem/emerops.pdf. Assessed July 1, 2007.

City of Provo, Utah. 2004. General Evacuation Plan. Available at http://www.provo.org/files/police/04evacbooklet%20map.pdf. Assessed July 1, 2007.

City of Centralia, Illinois. 2000. Emergency Disaster Plan. Available at http://www.city.centralia.il.us/index.pl?id=4033. Assessed July 1, 2007.

City of Hibbing, Minnesota. 2005. Emergency Operations Plan. Available at http://www.hibbing.mn.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B5882A3B3-FC03-47D4-B013-AEFA18E30E7F%7D&DE=%7BD6210DF3-073D-4CBE-86B5-0ACF38349499%7D. Assessed July 1, 2007.

City of Ankeny, Iowa. 2007. Emergency Operation Plan. Available at http://www.ankenyiowa.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=1787. Assessed July 1, 2007.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2008.0037

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2018 Journal of Emergency Management