Smart City: Evacuation Alerts

An evacuation alert is a notification sent to citizens when an evacuation may occur in the area soon. It also helps inform individuals about ongoing emergencies and any nearby hazardous conditions. Evacuation alerts help prepare citizens in advance so they can leave immediately if they must evacuate for their safety.  

An evacuation alert differs from an evacuation order in that it is sent out before the evacuation must occur to prepare citizens for potential evacuations and provide any information on the current happenings of an ongoing emergency. An evacuation order is sent out once the evacuation order is put in place. It informs citizens that they must evacuate immediately and provides further information on where to go and what to do.   

Many different emergency events may require the use of evacuation alerts, including: 

• Wildfires 

• Flooding 

• Earthquakes  

• Chemical or other hazardous material spills 

• Hurricanes  

• Industrial accidents 

• Natural disasters 

These are just some of the events that may require evacuation alerts. With an effective evacuation alert system, it is easy to adjust to any potential event.  

Evacuation zones are typically determined based on the type and location of the emergency. It is common for geographic information systems and risk assessments to play a crucial role in defining these zones.  

SimplyCast provides a wide range of use cases for smart cities, allowing them to use comprehensive solutions to improve and streamline several processes that cities manage. The evacuation alert use case is a streamlined emergency alert system that aims to improve how a city transfers crucial information to residents during dire situations. It effectively optimizes the delivery of emergency alerts using engagement-focused automation tools to allow cities to ensure the safety of citizens is met.  

SimplyCast's Evacuation Alert use case utilizes emergency communication tools and engagement-focused communication to create a personalized emergency command process for sending evacuation alerts to citizens. The evacuation alert system works by following three simple steps. The first step is providing citizens with easy sign-up to receive evacuation alerts by filling out a digital form online or through a QR code. The next step is to deliver evacuation alerts that meet the best communication method for every citizen to ensure they effectively receive them. The final step is providing live surveys to citizens to gather real-time feedback on the status of individuals amid the emergency.  

To receive evacuation alerts, an easy-to-complete digital form allows citizens to sign up for alerts. This form can be completed either online or by scanning QR codes. Once citizens have filled out the form, the sign-up process is complete.  

Traditional evacuation alert systems often face challenges in managing and distributing evacuation alerts. These key challenges include communication delays, the risk of spreading misinformation and limiting citizens' ability to share real-time information about their current conditions. These issues reduce the effectiveness of evacuation alerts and show a need for an innovative solution to overcome these challenges.  

Evacuation alert systems provide many benefits to cities and help to enhance public safety during emergencies. Some of the many benefits that an evacuation alert system provides include: 

• Improving emergency response: Evacuation alert systems help improve emergency responses by enhancing communication among emergency services and the information shared with citizens, facilitating more efficient and effective responses to emergencies.  

• Reducing the risk of causalities: By ensuring citizens receive swift evacuation alerts that offer essential information on the ongoing emergency, cities can begin to reduce the rate of casualties by having everyone well prepared for what to do in the instance of an evacuation. Additionally, using live surveys to collect data from citizens on their conditions allows emergency responders to respond to new events quickly and adapt accordingly to further information they receive in real time.  

• Provides real-time information gathering: Real-time information gathering is facilitated by providing residents with live surveys to allow them to share information on their current conditions in real time. This helps emergency responders stay up to date with what is occurring during the evacuation process.  

• Enhances property protection: Evacuation alert systems help safeguard homes and infrastructure by making residents aware of ongoing emergencies so they have time to secure their belongings.  

• Improving traffic management: Providing citizens with information on the evacuation routes they must take and other essential information on what to do in the case of an evacuation order helps to facilitate organized evacuations and ensures smoother traffic flow during evacuations. 

Some vital information that is often included in evacuation alerts includes: 

• The nature of the emergency: Information on the nature of the emergency event is often provided within the alert to keep residents aware of what is occurring.  

• Evacuation routes: Evacuation routes are typically sent before an evacuation order to prepare citizens so they know the safest route to take if an emergency evacuation occurs.  

• Potential timelines: An evacuation alert may include a time frame of when actions may be taken based on the current happenings of the emergency.  

• List of affected areas: Information on which areas are currently being affected is typically included within the alerts to help citizens be informed on the specific locations at immediate risk.