Evacuation Planning in the Aftermath of Katrina: Lessons Learned
Authors: Heller David S. 
Published: July 2010

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina left more than 1,300 people dead in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and many more homeless. This paper will attempt to address the question, “Could the huge casualty number instigated by the impact of Hurricane Katrina been mitigated or even avoided with better emergency evacuation planning?” It is this paper's hypothesis that with a better, more large‐scale evacuation plan in place, fewer people may have died. This paper looks at the following:

What hurricane evacuation plan(s), if any, were in place? Who were the agencies in charge of their implementation? When were these plans last updated? Were people aware of them, and were the evacuation procedures in place?

In the actual Hurricane Katrina evacuation, where were the critical breakdown points? For example, it has been reported that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin delayed his emergency evacuation order until less than a day before landfall, which led to the deaths of hundreds of people who (by that time) could not find any way out of the city. Also, the federal government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as well as other public agencies, have been criticized for their slow response.

What were the recommended strategies that could have been implemented to mitigate the impact? These might consist of a vertical evacuation as opposed to just a horizontal evacuation. In a vertical evacuation, people are sheltered on the upper floors of buildings temporarily, as opposed to a horizontal evacuation, where people leave a threatened area on a highway. Also, there probably should have been more transportation options available to assist the mobility‐impaired segment of the population.

What are the lessons learned, and what are the ramifications for evacuation policies and regulations for cities, regions, and states in other vulnerable areas?

What hurricane evacuation plan(s), if any, were in place? Who was/were the agency(ies) in charge of its/their implementation? When were these plans last updated? Were people aware of it/them, and the evacuation procedures in place?

In the actual Hurricane Katrina evacuation, where were the critical breakdown points? For example, it has been reported that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin delayed his emergency evacuation order until less than a day before landfall, which led to the deaths of hundreds of people who (by that time) could not find any way out of the city. Also, the Federal government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as well as other public agencies, have been criticized for their slow response.

What were the recommended strategies that could have been implemented to mitigate the impact? These might consist of: a vertical evacuation as opposed to just a horizontal evacuation. In a vertical evacuation, people are sheltered on the upper floors of buildings temporarily, as opposed to a horizontal evacuation, where people leave a threatened area on a highway. Also, there probably should have been more transportation options available to assist the mobility‐impaired segment of the population.

What are the lessons learned—and what are the ramifications for evacuation policies and regulations for cities/regions/states in other vulnerable areas?