Our plan works, and it will be in place if or when we need it this hurricane season. Our hurricane plan also provides for multi-state coordination of traffic. More regional coordination will occur, and it will be spearheaded by FEMA's Regional Evacuation Liaison Team. This team will consider traffic flows from Georgia and Florida, and their impact on evacuations in South Carolina. Informing the Public Another lesson that we learned from Floyd is that we needed a better communication network among our traffic control agencies.
Many states have similar problems.
Jurisdictions haven't focused enough on integrating communications, and we pay the price during emergencies. Our law enforcement agencies need to do a better job communicating with one another and with the general public. We have taken major steps to improve communication with people before, during, and after hurricanes approach. Several mechanisms are in place. The publication features an evacuation route map provided by our Department of Transportation, shelter locations, telephone numbers that people can call for further information, web-site addresses, and instructions regarding what people need to do before, during, and after hurricanes.