Durbin's Mass Evacuation Initiative in 9-11 Commission's Bill on Senate Floor

DURBIN'S MASS EVACUATION INITIATIVE IN 9-11 COMMISSION'S BILL ON SENATE FLOOR

An initiative offered by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) to improve mass evacuation planning is an important part of legislation currently being debated on the Senate floor to implement the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission.

"Recent studies of Illinois terrorism preparedness - both those done by the federal government and the self-evaluation done by the state - point to serious shortcomings in planning for mass evacuations. While most cities and states have evacuation plans, the lack of training drills makes it difficult to address problems that can take place during actual disasters," said Durbin. "With this legislation we can help states like Illinois plan evacuation drills and work out solutions to problems before lives are at risk in a real emergency."

Most eligible state homeland security funding is spent on personnel and equipment and not on planning and evacuation exercises. Senator Durbin's initiative outlines that states can use grant money to establish mass evacuation plans, prepare the execution of such plans, and conduct evacuation exercises.

In a report released June 16th by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Illinois ranked 11th in the nation in terrorism preparedness. In that evaluation, which graded 10 categories of emergency preparedness, Illinois received its lowest marks for its evacuation preparedness abilities.

The June 16th DHS analysis of preparedness was based on a complex scorecard for each city and state in the nation, rating their plans for evacuations, medical care, sheltering of victims and several other categories. Illinois' sufficiency in each category was reviewed separately by federal and state disaster officials, and two scorecards were produced. In both scorecards, the state scored worst in mass evacuation capabilities.

The DHS study noted that a successful evacuation, particularly a mass evacuation, encompasses more than physically moving a population from the area at risk to a safe haven. The effectiveness of evacuation planning hinges on the adequacy of the other factors such as communications between emergency personnel, effective emergency warning systems, dependable and accessible emergency public information programs and the availability of health and medical services.

http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=269823