Kali Rapp Roy Executive Director, evacuteer.org
Mission and History Evacuteer.org is non-profit organization that annually recruits, trains, and manages over 500 volunteers (Evacuteers) to assist residents during the public evacuation option called City Assisted Evacuation (CAE) in New Orleans. -Founded in 2009 to fill gaps after first CAE activation -Partner with local engaged community organizations -Provide educational hurricane preparedness programs -Increase public health awareness and train the community -Work closely with city government
Hurricane Katrina (2005) • The City of New Orleans had no plan for evacuation • Relied on shelters of last resort Post-Hurricane Katrina • Homeland Security and New Orleans Fire Department federally mandated to develop a public option
Special/Senior Care vs. General Pop EvacuSpots Special Care EvacuSpot General Population Evacuspot • 4 total • 13 total • Indoor location for seniors • Outdoor location with varied and persons needing levels of shade and/or medical resources (NMRs) immediately available • Wheelchair-equipped buses resources and paratransit vans • Regular RTA buses and vans Note: Only Special Care EvacuSpots use special needs vehicles
City Assisted Evacuation • For Orleans Parish residents who cannot self-evacuate during a mandatory evacuation due to financial need or lack of transportation, homelessness, medical and/or mobility needs, etc. • Provides transportation from 17 designated pick-up points called Evacuspots, to the Union Passenger Terminal bus station and onto state and regional shelters. • 18 local and state agencies play a role
e v a c u s p o t l o c a t io n s SEN IO R CEN TER L O CA TIO N S A rt h u r M o n d ay Ce n t e r 1 1111 N ew t o n A v e, A lg iers 2 K in g sle y H o u se 16 0 0 Co n st an c e St , L o w er Gard en D ist ric t 3 Ce n t ral Cit y Se n io r Ce n t e r 210 1 Ph ilip St , Cen t ral Cit y 4 M at e r D o lo ro sa 1226 S. Carro llt o n A v e, Carro llt o n GEN ERA L PO PU L A TIO N 5 Sm it h L ib rary B u s St o p 6 3 0 0 Can al B lv d , L ak ev iew 6 Palm e r Park S. Claib o rn e an d S. Carro llt o n W est Carro llt o n 7 M cM ain H ig h Sch o o l 5 712 S. Claib o rn e A v e, B ro ad m o o r L y o n s Co m m u n it y Ce n t e r 8 6 24 L o u isian a A v e, Irish Ch an n el D ry ad e s Y M CA 9 2220 O ret h a Cast le H aley B lv d Cen t ral Cit y 10 W arre n East o n H ig h Sch o o l 3 0 19 Can al St , M id Cit y A rm st ro n g Park 11 8 0 1 N . Ram p art St , Trem e H arrie t Tu b m an Ch art e r Sch o o l 12 28 3 2 Gen eral M ey er A lg iers St allin g s Co m m u n it y Ce n t e r 13 4 3 0 0 St . Clau d e, B y w at er San ch e z Ce n t e r 14 16 16 C affin A v e L o w er 9 t h W ard W alm art 15 4 3 0 1 Ch ef M en t eu r H ig h w ay Gen t illy 16 East N e w O rle an s L ib rary 5 6 4 1 Read B lv d N ew O rlean s East 17 M ary Q u e e n o f V ie t n am Ch u rch 14 0 0 1 D w y er N ew O rlean s East
Evacuation Timeline 4 days – 2 days – Normal 5 days – 3 days – 1 day – City Assisted Operations Decision to Contraflow Evacuation City Assisted Stop Evacuate Starts Ends Evacuation Starts
City Assisted Evacuation: Process Flow General RTA MSY Population EvacuSpot Locations Union State or Passenger Regional Terminal Bus Shelter Special Needs EvacuSpot Paratransit Van/Bus Locations
• 2016 data found that 86,000 individuals do not have a vehicle in New Orleans • Public health and public transportation numbers are utilized to estimate population use of City- Assisted Evacuation during a mandatory evacuation Who uses City Assisted Evacuation?
• Expected use today: 35,000+ • Operates in 24 hours • Needs to operate four times faster than during Gustav • Evacuteer assistance is estimated to increase speed of operation by 70% 2016
Households without access to vehicle
Rate of Poverty Poverty http://www.datacenterresearch.org/data-resources/who-lives-in-new- orleans-now/
Since Katrina (2005), the City Assisted Evacuation (CAE) has been launched once for Hurricane Gustav in 2008.
Gaps from Gustav , 2008 • Inefficient signage at pick-up points • No organization/information at pick-up points • Evacuees headed directly to Greyhound bus station to evacuate • Under direct oversight of city government • No prior training provided to facilitators • Took 36 hours to evacuate ~22,000 people
2013
• Funding provided by CDC, FEMA, Arts Council of New Orleans, and private donations to Evacuteer.org • Arts Council of New Orleans managed Call for Artists and contract negotiation • Manage maintenance • Outreach partners: NOHSEP (New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness) and Health Department All-Community Approach
Volunteer Program • Evacuteers are recruited and trained from partners: Community organizations that are active regularly in the communities that they serve in order to exchange trust and familiarity with the population • Evacuteers are also individuals who are civic-minded and willing to sign up. They sign up for one year at a time and need to recommit each year. • The majority of training occurs between March and August.
Year-Round Operations • Exercise assistance: Recruit volunteers for the annual City- Assisted Evacuation Drill • Contracted by the City to assist with spontaneous volunteer and donation assistance for lower-level storms and other hazardous disaster events • Children’s curriculum to ensure children do not lose institutional knowledge of hurricane preparedness • Outreach at community events and promotion of education on preparedness planning for storm events
How and when are you activated? When: Storm is entering the gulf and may head our way Evacuteer may activate How: You will receive a text for Hurricane George. from Evacuteer requesting you Will you serve one 7- confirm your ability to hour shift? Reply participate. YES/NO by noon today. Reply and stand by! Stand by for next message at 6pm. 311 Specialists may be recruited to come into the Call Center at this point
What will your shift look like? Team: eam: 5-10 0 per r EvacuSp cuSpot Lead ad: : Ev Evacusp acuspot Cap aptain tain Shi hift: t: 1 shi hift/da t/day; y; 7 ho hour urs Mo Morning ing Shift Evening Ev ening Shi hift (Eithe ither r shift t will l be first st depend nding ing on star art) t) [D [Do not t work k af after dark ark] NO NOPD PD On On-si site Taken from www.neworleanscitybusiness.com
What do I do at my Evacuspot? Registration • Registration tickets (filled out for evacuees on clipboard): • One per family • Wristbands • Luggage label • Provide information Luggage Assistance • Luggage loading • Tag dat bag Line up groups for the bus: Families stay together; can group at UPT before they get into shelter bus line
Difficult Situations: Answering Evacuee Questions Users will be allowed one e carry-on on sized bag, does not include pets, diaper bags or oxygen/medical bag. If someone brings more than one- explain that they may have to • move things into one bag. Fire Department will determine at UPT. At Evacuspot : Baggage may not take up someone else’s space on bus. Where are we going? While evacuees may not select the shelter location, once in line at • UPT with entire family – they will be informed where they will be going When are we coming back? When the city is reopened and deemed safe to return, buses will • come pick everyone up and bring them back. If someone’s area is not safe to return to, shelters will be provided in New Orleans.
Wristband: Number ties individual to ticket and luggage Use the entire letter & number sequence
Luggage Label: Secure on luggage NOP0002 144
Evacuation Ticket NOP0002 144
Language Assistance at Evacuspots Please note if you speak another language proficiently and wouldn’t mind serving as an interpreter • Evacuation Ticket Laminated in Spanish for reference: (unfortunately, tickets are only printed in English) • FAQs and answers in Spanish at Evacuspot: You may hand Spanish-only speakers this placard and ask them to review • Commonly-used phrases in Spanish to assist you with communication *Vietnamese speakers serve as Evacuteers in New Orleans East at the Mary Queen of Vietnam Church
Pets at my Evacuspot COMMUNICATE PROCESS: DO NOT TOUCH ANIMALS- Always instruct the owner Owners SHOULD bring: • Pet carriers • Leash • Collar with tags • Pet Food (if special) • Medications • Vaccination records
Deactivation H-Hour 30: Release of Evacuteers begins By H-Hour 24: Last shift completed Self-evacuate in personal vehicles OR Use the CAE themselves
Re-entry • City is re-opened • Operations Team will re- activate you (text, email) • Evacuees return from shelters/places of displacement by contracted buses
Into bus lines Back to EvacuSpot OR shelter if Lead evacuees neighborhood/home is from buses damaged/inaccessible
Spread the word about City Assisted Evacuation, Evacuspots & Evacuteer! Speaking events, hurricane preparedness outreach or questions? Contact Kali Roy at kali@evacuteer.org
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