Here is a list of government-ordered evacuations ahead of Hurricane Matthew:
Duval County: Zones A, B, and C.
Baker County: No evacuations at this time.
KNOW YOUR ZONE
“Not all zones are the same,” Stoughton says.
Evacuation zones are created based on factors like storm surge, areas prone to flooding, storm characteristics and other key factors. Duval County Emergency Preparedness Director Steve Woodard says it’s important for people to know what evacuation zone they live in.
“The people that we’re going to be concerned about first is those that live in manufactured homes, areas that are low-lying and susceptible to urban flooding,” Woodard says.
In Duval and St. Johns, zones are more complex because of the Atlantic Ocean and St. Johns River. Zones are labeled “A” through “F.” Whereas more inland in Clay, you only have zones “A” through “C.”
The areas located in Zone “A” are considered the most vulnerable and will be the first to be evacuated, according to Stoughton. The zones progress as you get further away from the coast.
The current zones for each county were updated in 2013 under the same state-wide regional evacuation study.
HAVE A PLAN
“Have a plan and know where you’re going to go,” Woodard says.
Clay County Emergency Management Director John Ward says the increase in population in the past 10 years creates a challenge to educate citizens.
“We have a large number of younger generations that have not experienced [a hurricane] or not really know [how] to react,” Ward says. “It’s constantly a challenge for us to discuss family planning, having that plan in place because we deal with a lot of complacency issues within our citizens because we’ve been fortunate enough and have not been impacted in so long.”
Ward says knowing where to go when you’re ordered to evacuate is a crucial part of your family plan. He says most of the time, you don’t need to go across multiple states. You just need to go inland 20 or 30 miles.
Another to-do on your evacuation checklist is putting together a disaster kit. Experts say pack like you’re going on a trip.
That includes medications, clothing, a toothbrush, a 3-day supply of water and food, electronics and chargers, flashlights, batteries, important paperwork, stuff for your animals and cash.
If you have children, experts say don’t forget to pack games to help keep the kids occupied.
Knowing your evacuation route is also helpful, according to experts.
Woodard says Duval County has four major routes to travel away from the Beaches. Those are the Wonderwood Bridge Expressway, Atlantic and Beach Boulevards and J. Turner Butler Boulevard. He also says we’re fortunate to have two interstates— I-10 and I-95— that go through our area.
“Unfortunately, everyone else will probably be using those interstates,” Woodard says.
Evacuation routes in St. Johns County are clearly marked with blue signs and arrows telling drivers which way to turn. The designed routes in the county are thru the main arteries: A1A, US 1, CR 210, SR 16, SR 207, SR 206 and I-95.
In Clay, the evacuation routes run on SR 15, SR 16, SR 21, SR 100, SR 200, CR 225, CR 215, CR 218, CR 228 and CR 315.
DON’T DELAY
“We need people to take action at that time. Do not delay,” Ward says.
Experts say it’s also important to remember that you won’t be the only county evacuating.
“If a large hurricane or a large hurricane is paralleling the coastline, you’re talking about many counties and probably Northeast Florida having to evacuate,” Stoughton says.
She says you can expect a lot of traffic on most of our transportation corridors with people moving to get to safety.
“You can plan on going slow, you can plan on lots of traffic and it’s going to be a process to move that many people.”
An evacuation order is given when there is a threat from a tropical cyclone that could impact people and threaten their lives. Stoughton says they are constantly working with the National Hurricane Center, the National Weather Service and the state emergency management agency out of Tallahassee to decide when you need to evacuate.
“This is not something we take lightly,” Stoughton says.
She adds that if you’re told to evacuate, you should take it very seriously.
“Because we are moving thousands of people it’s important to act as quickly and safely as you can,” Stoughton says.
Evacuations are done in a staged process. Ward says that’s to help get those at greater risk out of harm's way first and then move other people as needed. It’s also to help avoid what happened back in 1999 with Hurricane Floyd.
“Literally the Jacksonville-area was kind of the chokepoint at 95 and I-10,” Ward recalls.
He says the earlier you leave, the less time you’ll be sitting in those long lines of traffic.
“Don’t wait. Because that drive that could normally take you an hour could potentially take you three hours depending on the traffic on the roadways,” Ward says.
As a result of the traffic horror of Hurricane Floyd, FDOT created lane reversal, also known as contraflow. That’s simply when all lanes are switched to head in the same direction.
Right now, the contraflow plan only exists on I-10 to evacuate Jacksonville away from the gulf and is used as a last resort.
The plan has yet to be implemented but Ward says that’s a good thing "because that means we haven't had an event.”
