how do mandatory evacuations work?

[cellio]

We sometimes hear about mandatory evacuations because of storms (hurricanes, winter storms, etc). Hearing about one a couple of years ago that was announced on a Saturday morning prompted me to ask this question about evacuations on Shabbat. Now the question of timing has come up.

I've been fortunate to never have to evacuate my home or city. (Buildings yes, but that's different.) I have this impression, perhaps informed by Hollywood rather than reality, that announcements get broadcast far and wide and then police or National Guard or whoever start going through the area making sure people clear out, and you maybe have an hour or two to get underway at best. But then I thought about the logistics of that, and I'm wondering if you really have several hours, maybe the better part of a day, to do your prep and get out.

I'm not talking about cases where the problem is immediate (there's just been an earthquake, the missile will strike in half an hour, etc), but about other cases where the threat is dire enough that there is an evacuation but it might not be "drop everything and go right now" -- the storm is making landfall tonight, cases where you have (or think you have) time to get everybody home from work/school so you can leave together, pack your car, contact people outside the affected area to arrange for shelter, etc. I realize it's a good idea to get out as soon as you can, if nothing else because of traffic, but we know people don't always do that (and can't always, if not everybody is together to start with).

So for those of you who've been through these kinds of evacuations, or who know more about it than I do, what's the timeline usually like? How long do people take to clear out?

Comments

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

On a not quite as serious note: We've been talking about how various cities are getting rid of their snow. Buffalo essentially makes mountains out of parking lots. Does Pittsburgh dump their snow in the rivers, or is there a reason they don't.
-- Dagonell

[eub.livejournal.com]

It would crush the grocery store shopping carts!

[cellio]

Pittsburgh doesn't routinely dump it into the rivers so far as I know. In 2010 when we got about five feet of snow over about a week, I recall them dumping it in the rivers then -- it got talked about, which makes me think that was unusual.

I suspect the main reason is that making piles along the sides of the roads is usually good enough so why pay drivers to haul it down to the river? But I wonder if there are also concerns about adding to the water volume when spring thaw will already bring flooding in some places.

On a related note, today I looked out the window at work (from the 43rd floor) down at an expanse of snow nearby, idly wondered why that parking lot hadn't been cleared so cars could use it, and then realized that was a river. :-) Yeah, covered, though probably not all that deep.

[alienor.livejournal.com]

But I wonder if there are also concerns about adding to the water volume when spring thaw will already bring flooding in some places.

I believe the concern is actually untreated road chemicals/debris going into the river as pollutants, instead of being treated through the stormwater system. I think it's actually illegal in Maryland to dump snow in the river.