Hurricane Evacuation Map

When a hurricane makes landfall it can cause flooding, severe winds and many other problems. These problems are most intense in the areas immediately adjacent to the coastline and areas of low elevation. For the most severe storms, people in those areas need to evacuate to inland areas. The map above shows the hurricane evacuation plan for the State of Louisiana. People who live in the red areas are the first to evacuate. Their area will be hit first by the storm and the effects there will normally be most severe. In this phased evacuation plan, emergency traffic management will begin in the red area 50 hours before the predicted onset of tropical storm winds. Emergency traffic management will begin in the orange areas 40 hours before the predicted onset, and in the yellow areas 30 hours before onset. During emergency traffic management, all lanes of the emergency evacuation routes will be used to move traffic inland. These hurricane emergency evacuation routes are clearly shown on the map.

The map was produced and distributed by the Louisiana State Police, Louisiana State Deparment of Transportation, the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and the American Red Cross.