Making Evacuation Decisions Media Backgrounder Business Planning for Hurricanes Evacuation decision making is a basic emergency management function.
Evacuation is a public protection action in a hurricane.
The purpose of evacuation is moving people from the hurricane storm surge zones and mobile homes. The energy and the water volume in storm surge present the greatest risk to life and property. Mobile homes and similar type structures fail to provide reasonable protection from hurricane force winds. Emergency managers' first concern in hurricane events is moving those at greatest risk. Hampton Roads has a complex hurricane evacuation scenario with two bridge tunnels providing the only means away from one of the storm surge zones.