There are many hazards and risks associated with hurricanes and severe weather that require our attention and preparation. One of these threats is us. In 2005 more than half the residential population of Harris County – about a million persons – evacuated, or attempted to evacuate, before Hurricane Rita, a category 5 storm, made landfall. The simultaneous evacuation of so many people produced injuries and deaths not from the hurricane but from roadway gridlock. Compounding the problem was the fact that people in designated evacuation areas experienced difficulty fleeing the storm surge because of roadway congestion created by persons evacuating too early from areas not under an evacuation advisory. In 2008, with an additional 700,000 persons living in the county, a third of the county’s population evacuated or attempted to evacuate before Hurricane Ike made landfall. Though no ensuing gridlock occurred, again a significant portion of persons evacuated from areas not under an evacuation advisory.
Since 2005 the population of Harris County has grown significantly, but our roadways have not. As we enter hurricane season 2013 our capacity to handle the similar or greater numbers that evacuated before Hurricane Rita in 2005 is diminished. Hurricanes and other weather emergencies pose different challenges for different people. To respond properly, people need the right information and resources well before a hurricane makes landfall. Our findings suggest that when individuals are informed about the risks and take the appropriate steps, they and the community have good outcomes.
For most of us who live inland, Rita and Ike meant the inconvenience of power outages and inaccessible roadways coupled with limited wind damage and rainfall flooding. Our research found that preparing for hurricanes can help prevent congestion and unnecessary and ill-timed evacuations. Individuals are significantly less likely to evacuate when they are ready to endure days, and perhaps weeks, of inconvenience associated with the loss of power, water and mobility. Buying bottled water, non-perishable food and prescription drugs and having a plan for responding to these challenges reduces the likelihood that people in non-evacuation areas who face less danger will either evacuate or improperly time their departure.
One way to prepare for hurricane season is to visit the City of Houston’s Storm Risk Calculator website. The website helps Harris County residents learn about local risks from hurricane-induced hazards and empowers them to make the right choices about how to prepare for and respond to severe weather. When there are no active storms, the website has information about risks in Hurricane Ike-like conditions. In the event of an approaching hurricane or tropical storm, the site will provide information for each one-square-kilometer (approximately 0.5-square-mile) block on the risk of flooding from rainfall and storm surge, wind damage and power outages from that storm.
The bottom line is that by taking a few simple steps in advance of hurricane season, the people of Harris County can ensure their families and communities stay safe.
Robert Stein is the fellow in urban politics at Rice University’s Baker Institute and the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science. Birnur Guven is a research scientist at the Houston Advanced Research Center. Leonardo Duenas-Osorio is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice. Devika Subramanian is a professor of computer science at Rice.