NEW ORLEANS — You may have seen tall, metal stick figures waving their hand near bus stops across the City of New Orleans, they are known as Evauspots. There are 17 of them.
They were created after Hurricane Katrina to let people know of the designated spots to be picked up at if they need help getting out of the city in the event of a mandatory evacuation.
But in recent years that has changed. According to Rich Chatman, Deputy Director of the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. If an evacuation is called, all bus stops will be routed to end at the Smoothie King Center or the Convention Center where you will be taken out of the city.
"The reason we do a system like that is one, we want to make sure that there's access around the entire city," said Chatman. "It's so that there are no spots where people have to travel long distances by foot to be picked up and then make it to the actual location to get out of town."
There's a similar plan in Jefferson Parish. In JP, you can go to any bus stop too. If you're on the West Bank, you will be dropped off at the Allario Center. East Bank folks will end up at the Vineyard Church and then be driven out of the parish.
Joseph Valiente, the Director of Emergency Management for JP said a mandatory evacuation, a lot goes into determining if it will be issued. From there things will happen pretty quickly. Bottom line, he said if you can leave, you should.
"Sheltering in place is never the best option for a hurricane," Valiente said. "It's always better to evacuate even if it's just for 24 hours to get out of harm's way, from the initial impact and threats and then come back 24 hours later."
Now mind you, these plans will only be implemented if there is a mandatory evacuation that is called.
But again, because these storms rapidly intensify, there may not be enough time to get everyone out safely. With that in mind, there are plans in place both in Orleans and Jefferson Parish to take in folks who don't have enough time to get out safely.
Once they do release those details if needed, we'll be sure to let you know.
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