ISSUE: Hurricane evacuation

OUR VIEW: Testing procedures vital to evacuations

The month is September. The year is 1999. The storm is Hurricane Floyd. The exercise is frustration.

South Carolina was spared the wrath of that storm, but there was plenty of wrath to go around.

The images are lasting: People standing around their cars in traffic that simply was not moving; angry comments to reporters and anyone who’d listen; a woman changing a youngster’s diaper behind the door of a car stopped in the lanes of traffic on I-26; cars stalled along the roadside, out of gas from the long delay; the governor flying over in a helicopter before getting to Charleston to tell the media all was going smoothly with the evacuation.

The mandatory evacuation ordered by then-Gov. Jim Hodges did not go smoothly — and it didn’t take the governor long after that to find out. Late in the day of the evacuation, back in Columbia, Hodges ordered the traffic flow out of Charleston to all lanes of the interstate, closing off eastbound traffic.

For days afterward, despite his actions to ensure no slowdown in the return of coastal residents, Hodges took hit after hit from media, politicians and citizens. All the while, he and his lieutenants attempted to explain. Later he issued a formal apology.

It was a lesson learned — or relearned. Why reversal of the lanes out of Charleston for such a major evacuation was not an integral part of the evacuation plan then is unclear.

It has been sense.

No emergency plan, however, is any better than its implementation. That’s why state emergency personnel periodically descend on Interstate 26 and other key evacuation routes to put the plan to the test.

The S.C. Department of Public Safety, in conjunction with other state agencies, on Wednesday will conduct a lane-reversal exercise to prepare emergency personnel for traffic scenarios that might occur during an actual hurricane. The exercise simulates the deployment of law enforcement personnel and traffic-control devices, even though lanes are not reversed for the exercise.

Simulation can only go so far.

The exercise should not interfere with the flow of traffic. Intersections will not be blocked, and motorists will be allowed to move freely. However, the Highway Patrol cautions motorists traveling Interstate 26, U.S. 501 and U.S. 278 to exercise due care and be aware that law enforcement officers and other personnel will be located on the shoulder of the highway and at exits. The exercise will last from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

As would happen during an actual hurricane, the lane-reversal simulation will begin at the intersection of I-526 and I-26 in Charleston and will end at I-77 and I-26 in Columbia. The U.S. 501 exercise will begin near Conway at S.C.22 and end at S.C. 576 and Marion Bypass. The U.S. 278 exercise in Beaufort County will begin at Spanish Wells Road/ Cross Island Parkway and end at Interstate 95 (Exit 8).

The hurricane exercise is meant to test readiness during the pre-execution and mobilization phase; to test information flow from the emergency operations centers to the field; to assess the procedures for lane reversals and to evaluate how well participating agencies work together.

Such tests are crucial in ensuring public confidence in the system. When ordered to evacuate, people must leave the coast without wondering whether they’ll be able to get out on the roads and highways.

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