Gov. Perry statement that the evacuation was a success is an offense to the millions who were stuck in traffic gridlock and the dozens who died evacuating. This badly organized and badly executed "Texodus" took the lives of more people than Hurricane Rita. Last weeks failure proves the Gov. and his appointed TxDOT leadership have been too focused on tolling roads we've already paid for to do proper evacuation planning. It should be a stark wake-up call for real disaster planning.
Experts say:
• Leaders should not communicate a sense of fear or a sense of panic - that helped cause "Texodus" gridlock.
• Citizens awareness multimedia campaign (like Washington DC's) will help people be more prepared for earlier, staggered evacuation, with more efficient current alternative modes such as buses and train.
• A contingency plans with bus transit for a Hurricane Bus plan with Pickup points to also help those without transportation.
• Have contingency plans with Amtrak to move people out.
• Be prepared to turn two-way streets and highways into one-way evacuation routes (Leaders waited far to long to do this for a limited number of highways - Transportation Department officials have said they did not strongly consider converting highways to one-way traffic before last week - that suggests that contraflow was NOT in the plan).
• Have refueling tankers prepped with proper nozzles. (National Guard trucks were sent out fitted with fuel nozzles for jets, not cars.)
No comments:
Post a Comment