Coastal Services Center

Hurricane Evacuation Zones Tool Template

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Are your evacuation zones easily accessible to the public? If you have data, this template can help you do the rest:   Develop a simple, public-friendly mapping interface... Provide hurricane evacuation zones at state, county, or local scales... Link to other important emergency management information or resources... You can customize it to fit your needs!

Use this template with your agencies data to develop a mapping application that citizens can use to find their hurricane evacuation zones.

The application will allow users to enter an address to create a map that displays their evacuation zones, along with information about preparing for evacuations and what to do in an event.

The example application provided at this site refers to a fictitious community called "HEZ County." The template for the application, and set-up documentation are available free of charge to interested federal, state, and local officials involved in emergency management or hazards planning. These materials make it easy for emergency managers to provide the public with the evacuation zones created by states, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for individual Hurricane Evacuation Studies. 

Requirements
Below are the minimum resources necessary to implement the tool; however, additional data layers could be incorporated to customize the tool for other specific needs.

Staff:
Geographic information systems (GIS) staff members with Internet mapping experience are needed to acquire, set up, and customize the tool. Emergency management or hazards planning staff members are needed to provide information on hurricane evacuation planning.

Hardware and Software:
The tool runs on a Web server with ESRI ArcIMS software and uses the JAVA Connector for ArcIMS.

Data (Each layer should be in a GIS-compatible format):

• Evacuation zones
• Parcel data (or geo-coded streets) for searching
• Roads
• Boundaries (city, county, state)
• Customized data that may include shelters, building footprints, evacuation routes, medical facilities, etc.

How to Get the Template
E-mail nos.csc.hez@noaa.gov with the subject line "HEZ Tool" to inquire about setting up the tool. Please note that the NOAA Coastal Services Center cannot be responsible for creating data or providing software or hardware.

New York City Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder
The New York City Office of Emergency Management Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder has a simple and public-friendly interface, is easy to use, and provides clear and concise supporting information. Please visit this site to explore a real-world implementation of an Internet-based search application for hurricane evacuation zones.

"HEZ County" Example Hurricane Evacuation Zone Application
Launch the example application for HEZ County to explore the functionality of the template.