Tuesday, June 18, 2013

New York City Updates Hurricane Evacuation Zones - Roosevelt island Divided In Two Separate Zones For Octagon Building/Coler Hospital And Rest Of Island

As reported following Hurricane Sandy last October:

... perhaps all of Roosevelt Island should not be in the Category B evacuation zone but that portions of Roosevelt island, including the area around the Octagon and Coler Hospital should be Category A....
The new NYC Hurricane Evacuation maps place Roosevelt Island in separate zones.
All of Roosevelt Island had previously been in the same evacuation zone but the updated NYC hurricane evacuation plan has Roosevelt Island in two separate zones. Coler Hospital and the Octagon Building are in Zone 2 and the rest of Roosevelt Island is in Zone 3.


Click here for the NYC Hurricane Evacuation Map.

According to these excerpts of Press Release from Mayor Bloomberg's office:
Deputy Mayor for Operations Cas Holloway and Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph F. Bruno today announced final updates to the City's hurricane evacuation zones. The new Zones, 1 through 6, which will replace Zones A, B and C, now include an additional 600,000 New Yorkers not included within the boundaries of the former zones. The new zone system - first announced in the City's Hurricane Sandy After-Action report last month - was developed using the latest Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricane storm surge inundation maps generated by the National Weather Service and processed by United States Army Corps of Engineers. The zones are based on coastal flood risk resulting from storm surge - the "dome" of ocean water propelled by the winds and low barometric pressure of a hurricane; the geography of the city's low-lying neighborhoods; and the accessibility of these neighborhoods by bridge and roads....

... The new Zones 1 through 6 include an additional 600,000 New Yorkers not included within the boundaries of the former zones. The increased number of zones will provide the City with more flexibility in targeting areas to evacuate in advance of a predicted storm. The chart below provides the cumulative estimated population of each new zone. The new hurricane evacuation zones are not directly correlated to the previous A, B, and C zones, and a numbering system was selected for the 2013 evacuation zones instead of the previously used lettering system to avoid confusion.

2013 Hurricane Evacuation Zone Population

Estimated population (2010 Census)

Zone 1 370,000

Zone 1+2 620,000

Zone 1+2+3 1,020,000

Zone 1+2+3+4 1,470,000

Zone 1+2+3+4+5 2,230,000

Zone 1+2+3+4+5+6 2,990,000...

... In the City's history, a mandatory evacuation has been issued only twice, during Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.

New evacuation zones now include:
  • The residences of 37 percent of New Yorkers;
  • An additional 600,000 New Yorkers;
  • An additional 26 New York City Housing Authority developments, now totaling 175;
  • Four additional hospitals, bringing the total from 21 to 25; and
  • Nine additional nursing homes, bringing the total from 60 to 69.

More on Roosevelt Island Hurricane Sandy damage from previous post.