Hurricane Evacuation Laws in Eight Southern States: Strong on Orders, Weak on Outreach

Major hurricanes can devastate low-lying coasts with storm surge, flooding and high winds. Evacuating people before landfall saves lives, and state laws set out who can order an evacuation and how it's carried out. CDC reviewed the evacuation laws in force on December 31, 2018, in eight southern coastal states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

How the laws were reviewed

A search of the Westlaw legal database found 2,150 laws; 91 — 72 statutes and 19 regulations — dealt specifically with evacuation. Two reviewers coded each law independently, with CDC's Public Health Law Program settling disagreements. The laws were grouped into seven domains and compared on 17 themes.

What the states' laws cover

Who gives the order differs: in Texas, local jurisdictions issue evacuation orders; in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, only the governor can.

Government agencies with legal authority to order a large-scale evacuation in a natural disaster, eight southern coastal states, December 31, 2018. CDC

The gaps

• Language. No state required using other languages to tell people with limited English about an evacuation order.
• Disability. Only Florida authorized a registry of people with access and functional needs for evacuation and sheltering; only Florida, Louisiana and Texas required telling people with disabilities or access and functional needs about evacuation plans.
• Outreach and shelters. Requirements for public notice, education, and sheltering in place were uneven.

Why it matters

• Time is short. State officials get hurricane awareness notices about 120 hours before a possible disaster; evacuation plans typically start within 72 hours of landfall, often by reworking major roads for rapid, orderly exit. People must be alerted in time.
• The stakes. Hurricane Katrina (Category 5, August 2005) caused 986 deaths from drowning, injury and trauma and among people with chronic illness; Hurricane Harvey (Category 4, 2017) caused 171, including from electrocution, car crashes and lack of medical care.
• Reaching everyone. Laws alone don't make communities ready: orders must reach everyone in the area. Risk perceptions, resources and physical ability shape who leaves, and those most at risk may be reluctant. Failing to alert everyone — people 65 and older, people with disabilities or functional needs, tourists — can also slow recovery.

What states can do

• Communicate consistent messages across print, radio, TV and social media, in multiple languages and channels.
• Give more information on routes, shelter locations and shelter supplies — medicines and food for people with special needs, durable medical equipment, generators — including for power outages lasting more than 2 weeks.
• Plan stay-at-home policies as well as evacuation orders.
• Keep reviewing plans, as the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials urges. In 2020, hurricane season overlapped with COVID-19, calling for clear messages on who should evacuate and how to keep distance in shelters without clashing with stay-at-home orders.

Limits

Local ordinances, facility-specific evacuation laws and federal mandates weren't included.

Sources

Based on Kruger J, Smith MJ, Chen B, et al., "Hurricane Evacuation Laws in Eight Southern U.S. Coastal States — December 2018," MMWR volume 69, number 36, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The report's text says "only four" states had laws on informing diverse populations and people with disabilities, and "only four" on outreach, education and public notice; its own state-by-state table supports neither count, so the table is given here instead.