Hurricane Evacuation Studies

Hurricane Evacuation Studies (HES) address hurricane planning and impact assessment for coastal regions. These studies look at the vulnerability of a population to hurricane threats and give guidance to local emergency managers planning an evacuation of the community.

One of the key outputs of an HES process is the matrix of Evacuation Clearance Times – the number of hours it takes to move the threatened population to safety given various factors such as the category of storm, the tourist occupancy (or population) of the area at the time, and public responsiveness.

HURREVAC utilizes clearance times from the various Hurricane Evacuation Studies for its evacuation decision time calculations.

For more information about your local HES, get in touch with either the hurricane planner with your state’s emergency management agency, your FEMA Regional Hurricane Program Manager, or the USACE study manager for your region

Clearance Time is the number of hours it takes to move the vulnerable population to safety.