Gothamist: NYC's $30 Million Hurricane Plan

ezgis

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:39:43 -0500

I was in New Orleans during the Katrina evacuation, both helping friends and family get to safety and then mapping 9-11 calls in the state EOC. A few years later, at a National Conference on Evacuation, I saw someone from NYC EOC give a presentation on their evacuation plans. This woman was pretty clueless and the plans had a couple of important flaws. As one example, she discussed using the subways to evacuate people, but she did not know when the storm surge would inundate the tunnels. Sounds like a plan to drown thousands to me. If you guys ever get hit by a major hurricane, YOU WILL HAVE A KATRINA LIKE DISASTER. If this country is to be more safe, everyone, including Jen Chung, needs to get over the "Only in New Orleans" mentality. We had one of the world's most advanced evacuation plans. We drilled the plan and had practice rounds. We knew when our major evacuation routes become inundated from the storm surge. We executed the plan almost perfectly. And, we still had a catastrophe.

goody too shoes

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 13:16:46 -0500

Ahhhhh, you mean zombies. Just what is the best zombie killer is the ultimate question. In all seriousness, you really can't believe public transportation can be relied upon in a Katrina like emergency. Has the mayor seen the subways when there's an inch of rain? You need to think locally when it comes to being prepared. Get together with some neighbors and make a plan. Hopefully these are neighbors you can stand being around for long periods of time. Assign tasks for each person, set up a meet up and go to the agreed upon vacation home in the mountains of PA or NY. The vacation home should also be prepared for the influx of additional guests.

Rocknrope

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:30:18 -0500

I have a go-bag ready, but it's for when the dead rise and eat the living, not for hurricanes. It can work just as well, though. http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/11/20/escape_from_new.php

thing

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 11:00:02 -0500

I don't want to sound gloomy, but how can you say that just because the city plans to force people to leave, we won't have a Katrina style mess? I do agree that, in the event of a cat. 3 hurricane hitting NYC, we won't have as big of a mess as New Orleans, but I don't believe that Bloomberg promising to force 3 million people to evacuate is going to do much to help. How much experience does this city have in evacuating millions of people at a moment's notice? With just a few hundred thousand people evacuating the New Orleans area, a car ride that would normally take about an hour and a half can easily take as long as 4-6 hours. If millions of New Yorkers are forced to evacuate, we'll be faced with total gridlock. I can't imagine free mass transit being that much help. Is everyone who is at risk and without a car supposed to catch a train at Penn Station and Grand Central? So he's going to force us all to leave... that's great... I'd love to know how he's going to implement that plan effectively. If we were faced with more than just flooding, if the city was getting a direct hit by a cat. 3 or higher and was going to experience severe hurricane winds, I can't imagine millions of people cramming into shelters being that effective of a plan either. A mandatory evacuation is not an easy decision to make. It would cripple the city, so it will take guts to issue it in time for people to get out of the city safely. Does Bloomberg have the guts? I just don't think it makes sense to speak so lightly about the situation... Bloomberg says he's going to make us all leave, so clearly we won't have any problems like those other people did.