Effective Evacuation Routes Research Articles

A-Gis Based Approach of an Evacuation Model for Tsunami Risk Reduction

In a tsunami mitigation plan, evacuation plays a crucial measure for saving human lives, especially for communities who are living in low-lying coastal areas. In some locations, higher grounds may not exist or local tsunami make it not possible for community to evacuate to a distant location due to the short warning time. Thus, a possible solution is vertical evacuation into the upper level of buildings or structures designed to resist the effects of the tsunami. This research developed a method to choose the most effective evacuation routes using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools in a tsunami-prone area, the case of the Cilacap coastal area. Network analysis and various GIS techniques were used to determine the location and capacity of potential suitable evacuation shelter buildings (ESBs) and the most effective evacuation route for tsunami. The evacuation process used simulates that the residents of the inundation area will be encouraged to walk to safe areas in a certain amount of time. Results of the modeling include the proposed location of additional ESBs, the capacity and service area of each building, and the evacuation route for each center of population to reach the escape buildings. The number of additional shelters was different for the different-time scenario since daytime and nighttime scenarios will give a different distribution and different number of shelters needed. In addition, the effective evacuation routes were developed for each service area. In this case, travel time was an essential factor since it would limit the movement of evacuees in the evacuation process.

Emergency Management: Building an O-D Ranking Model Using GIS Network Analysis

Enormous natural disasters due to climate change are frequently observed all around the world. Unexpected catastrophes become a huge threat for community residents. Activating an evacuation order in a large-scale incident such as a wildfire depends on how information can be acquired in real time. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide highly analyzed map products to decision makers. Under real wildfire circumstances, GIS map products are very effective materials that include collected and analyzed information and results visualized to enable interpretation of the situation in real time. The challenge of this study is the construction of an optimal route selection method using a GIS network for issuing evacuation-order decisions. The most effective evacuation routes were defined by networking analysis using 2007 San Diego wildfire datasets. The shortest evacuation routes were calculated between affected points and shelters and chosen automatically by an O-D (Origin - Destination) ranking model. Considerable roads and land features and other environmental factors when the closest facilities and routes are selected, selection criteria and approach methods can be suggested for future events. Using this model, accessible routes can be chosen any time and any place, even during an ongoing evacuation. Decision makers should therefore provide proper evacuation orders to rescue crews using this O-D ranking model.

Effectiveness of downward evacuation in a large-scale subway fire using Fire Dynamics Simulator

Effective evacuation routes in the case of a large-scale subway fire were studied. A serious problem in the subway fire is that the directions of smoke flow are coincident with those of evacuation toward the surface. Hence, it is necessary to design an evacuation route without interference from smoke. A disastrous fire broke out in the Jungangno subway station in Daegu, South Korea in 2003. Based on this case, the Jungangno subway station with three basement levels was used in Fire Dynamics Simulator model in this study. The influences of smoke, temperature, and toxic gases (carbon monoxide [CO] and carbon dioxide [CO 2]) were computed at the evacuation staircases in the subway station with a fire source in the third basement floor (B3). The calculations showed that the evacuation staircases had high smoke density, temperature, and concentrations of CO and CO 2 in the subway fire. Hence, these factors greatly affected all of the upward evacuation staircases due to the coincidence of the smoke flow and the evacuation routes. Therefore, our paper proposes a new subway station with a fourth basement floor (B4) having downward evacuation routes which are in the opposite direction to the smoke flow. The results of analysis show that these factors hardly affected the staircases from B3 to B4. We conclude that downward evacuation can be more effective than upward evacuation for a large-scale subway fire.

Enumeration Method of the Effective Evacuation Routes for the Evaluation on the Multiple Evacuation Routes

Enumeration Method of the Effective Evacuation Routes for the Evaluation on the Multiple Evacuation Routes