Gas Prices Fuel Concern About Hurricane Evacuation Plans

The rising cost of fuel is a concern for everyone, including emergency planners in Texas, who are worried high gas prices mean people won’t evacuate the next time a hurricane approaches.

In an article in Texas’ Silsbee Bee, Gerry L. Dickert says the county’s emergency management director Theresa Wigley is concerned about situations where residents are told to evacuate, but can’t afford the cost of a tank of gas to do so.

“In the seven years I’ve been here, it’s the one question I can’t find an answer to,” Wigley told Dickert. “When you struggle week to week to make ends meet, just to buy enough gas to get back and forth to work, how do you tell them to save money just in case a hurricane comes along?”

Is there an answer to the conundrum? Wigley suggests citizens register with 211 before a storm’s arrival. If citizens call 211, they can pre-register for free transportation out of the county in an evacuation. “Residents will converge on local hubs where state-sponsored buses will be waiting to take people to a predetermined destination to the north and out of harm’s way,” Dickert says.

For those who don’t want to register, Wigley also recommends trying to save some money for gas in the event of an evacuation.  “I’m not telling people to go without food so they can put aside money for gasoline just in case,” she told Dickert. “Get a jar and save some pennies. Do whatever you have to do [to] be prepared. Everyone needs to leave if there’s a hurricane ... everyone.”