DDCDistrict Disaster Chairman

Receives requests (STAR) for state assistance from local governments or other state agencies responding to emergencies

Coordinates the state’s responding agencies within their District (36 State/Volunteer Org.)

Forwards requests to the State Operation Center (Austin), if local assets are not available

Provides Direction & Control for state, federal, & out-of-state resources dispatched to the District, and monitors the use of resources.

Prepares operational plans for the evacuation of geographical areas, coordinating with local governments to facilitate the flow of evacuees and emergency responders into the affected areas.

-This Plan is known as the Traffic Management Plan (TMP)

Traffic Management PlanPURPOSE

A. Formally establish a coordinated strategy for the direction and control of evacuation traffic during times of emergencies.

B. Delineate the separation of routes from the coastal counties. The primary routes are IH 37, US 181, TX 239 and US 77A for Nueces County; US 87, TX 35 for Calhoun County.

C. Designated evacuation routes in order to limit the number of routes that cross each other, requiring traffic control.

PURPOSE (continued)D. Specify assignments for law enforcement control at

designated locations. The Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of Transportation, with the assistance of local law enforcement agencies, have identified major evacuation routes and choke points within each Disaster District.

E. Improve traffic control and promote an orderly movement of vehicles to the northwest and west in a manner consistent with existing local evacuation plans.

Traffic Management Plan

Hurricane TimeframeThe following is a BASIC timeline to major

events in the order that they should occur in preparation for an approaching hurricane. The timeline is a guide, but due to the fact that most hurricanes do not follow timelines, it can be modified at some key areas for a rapidly developing storm.

H-hour – Onset of hazards, when the outer bands of tropical storm force winds or storm surge strike the coast.

Evacuation Timeline H-120 SOC begins monitoring-Weather service coordination,

Fuel Groups, Texas Military Forces, Shelter HUBs availability checked, Contracts for buses, ice, water, vendors, ambulances alerted

H-96 Bus contracts activated, TEA alerted-sheltering, Special Needs identified,/update 211, Status of Special Needs (medical) shelters, PSAs to media, designation of areas for response teams, Evacuation routes checked, Staging of Fuel Trucks/Fuel Plan begins

H-84 Shelter HUBs notified

H-72 Shelter availability, Evacuation Routes readied for TFLs, Bus/Ambulance assembly areas commence

Evacuation Timeline-continued H-60 Special Needs Evacuation begins/State Hospitals Highway Patrol-Additional personnel to support general

evacuation or contra-flow are requested (300 additional Troopers – depending on location)

H-48 Final Preparations for General Population Evacuation-Fuel movements made, tankers positioned, water pre-positioned, comfort stations set up/supplied,

Contra-flow decision made.

H-40-Contra-flow personnel/equipment in place if needed, timing is flexible depending on projected landfall

H-36-Coastal evacuation is underway, support services in place, Motorist Assistance vehicles in operation, comfort stations open, Re-entry teams/equipment pre-positioned. Confirmation on schools in strike-zones closed, PSAs giving instructions on evacuation, donations, and storm status

H-24-Clear evacuated areas of stranded citizens, All CARE facilities in strike zone evacuated, Continue to monitor evacuation routes

Evacuation Timeline-continued

Evacuation Timeline-continued H-12-Continue to monitor evacuation routes, project end

time of traffic movement

H-0-All personnel/equipment in safe areas for landfall Presidential Disaster Declaration submitted.

The preceding is a brief synopsis of an extensive amount of preparation and actions taken prior to the landfall of a major hurricane. The purpose of this is to give the viewer a sense of the preparation that is needed and has been done to have a successful evacuation in the event of a major hurricane.

Key Points Fuel Availability-Fuel will be pushed to the

designated evacuation routes. TDEM-Fuel Team Comfort Stations-are provided along designated

routes under the direction of TxDOT Security on routes-provided by Texas Highway

Patrol, local Law Enforcement- and will include aircraft

HEROs/Courtesy Patrols/MAPS-etc.-will be available along designated evacuation routes

Wreckers-are under contract on designated routes to remove vehicles from the roadway-TxDOT

Contra-flow When will contra-flow happen? When conditions merit the

immediate evacuation of a strike area or the intensity of the hurricane is high. As IKE demonstrated, it can be a low intensity hurricane, but due to its’ extreme size can produce a very high storm surge. Strike location will also be a major factor. Decision time will be around 48 hours prior to landfall.

When contra-flow is put into action, there will be disruption of traffic on some roadways. For instance-during contra-flow, IH 10 will be Westbound traffic only, with US 90, US 90A, being the largest Eastbound roadways to the Houston area. IH 37 will be Northbound traffic with US 181, US87, & SH 16 used for Southbound flow.

When the regular highway system can handle the traffic load, contra-flow will end.

Contra-flow Contra-flow is very disruptive to normal traffic

flows, makes it difficult to bring equipment, vehicles and supplies to the affected area. It is extremely manpower intensive, using manpower from local agencies, Highway Patrol, Texas Department of Transportation, etc. for up to 36 hours. Those agencies involved are still expected to perform their normal duties at the same time. Therefore the decision to enact contra-flow must be balanced over the gains and losses in the areas affected.