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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management

Crisis and Emergency Management

November 2008 Volume 15 - Number 2

Hurricane Updates...

A REPORT ON THE EVACUATIONS CAUSED BY HURRICANE IKE

By Dale Yeatts

On September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall as a Category 3 Hurricane near Galveston, Texas. In the preceding days, reports had forecast a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, with associated storm surges of more than 18 feet in the low-lying areas along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Based on this information, local authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders for people living in coastal areas along the anticipated path of the hurricane.

Many political figures issued evacuation warnings to the public, including President Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and Federal Emergency Management Administration Director David Paulison,[1] Mayors from Houston and Galveston as well as Texas Governor Perry all encouraged people in the designated areas to comply with the mandatory evacuation orders.[2] According to a warning issued by the Houston-area National Weather Service during evacuation preparations, families occupying both one and two-story houses on the coast between Houston and Galveston would “face certain death.”[3]

Along with the evacuation requests, officials pleaded with the approximately 3 million people living in the Houston area to remain in place, thus preventing a repeat of the evacuation that occurred in 2005 in the days preceding Hurricane Rita where mass panic and poor state and local disaster planning led to traffic gridlock on the roads away from Houston and resulted in the deaths of more people than the direct effects of the hurricane. Other incentives that were used to encourage people to evacuate to safe areas included improving logistic operations so that a sufficient number of buses were available to local communities to evacuate their elderly patients, and the promise that displaced evacuees would be provided space in Red Cross and FEMA shelters where they would receive blankets and food.

Despite the apparent success in facilitating the evacuation flow along the interstates and highways, and the positive media attention it received, it was still estimated that more than 25 percent of those individuals who were in the so-called zone of “certain death” on Galveston ignored the order to evacuate and stayed in place.[4]

The factors for the poor evacuation response before Hurricane Ike are likely multi-factorial, and include inability to afford the cost of evacuation, refusal to leave the family pets behind, and hurricane “warning fatigue.”[5] This final factor was most likely due to the frequent Hurricane advisories by officials during a busy hurricane season, and also the skepticism on the part of many people that the warnings about Hurricane Gustave in August had been given in good faith rather than a ploy by President Bush, Ray Nagin, and the federal response agencies to make up for their poor performance during Hurricane Katrina.

REFERENCES

[1] Powell, SM. (2008, September 14). Riding out storm brings harsh words: bush, chertoff, chafe over ignored evacuations orders. Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX). Retrieved October 22, 2008 frohttp://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/6000159.html

[2] Langford, T. (2008, September 11). Texans flee low-lying areas as Ike turns towards Freeport: Galveston mayor urges citywide evacuation. Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX). Retrieved October 22, 2008 from http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5993388.html

[3] Peterson, LA. (2008, September 18). Hurricane center director studies Bolivar Peninsula damage. Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX). Retrieved October 25, 2008 from http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6008924.html

[4] Carney, M. (2008, September 12). Hurricane Ike: Galveston says 25% ignored evacuation order. USA Today. Retrieved October 26, 2008 from

[5] Falkenberg, L. (2008, September 11). Hurricane fatigue weighs in. Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX). Retrieved October 24, 2008 from http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/falkenberg/5996921.html