Local emergency evacuation planning in California, USA: a comparison with the hurricane states Online publication date: Wed, 25-May-2011
by Megumi Kano, Melissa Kelley, Michelle Hashemi
International Journal of Emergency Management (IJEM), Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011
Abstract: Many of the losses due to wildfires, floods, and other hazards can be avoided with proper evacuation planning. This study examined local emergency evacuation readiness in the State of California of the USA. Emergency planning documents were obtained from 41 of the 58 California counties; only 8 of those were free-standing emergency evacuation plans eligible for evaluation. The plans were evaluated using a tool previously developed for a congressional study of hurricane evacuation plans. The California plans scored relatively well in the areas of decision making and communications but scored poorly on other issues including planning for alternative transportation modes and evacuating special needs populations. Overall, the California evacuation plans did not measure up to those developed in the hurricane states. This study highlights the need to strengthen and standardise evacuation planning in at-risk areas and to improve knowledge about local evacuation preparedness.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Emergency Management (IJEM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook