Yesterday I was looking at CNN (that's unusual in and of itself as I tend to stick to Canadian media.) and saw one of those oh-so-typical photos: a 10 lane divided highway with one side completely jammed, stop and go, and the other side deserted.
What I want to know, is why are they doing this? More importantly, why are there not people guiding motorists onto the other side of the highway to make use of the extra space? Now admittedly, an operation like this would need co-ordination, people to stay back and direct traffic. This is where the police, reserves and citizen volunteers come in. A couple mailings, and some public service announcements on radio and TV would get the ball rolling, then it's just a bit of practice...
In a city like Toronto, where every highway on-ramp has a gate across it it would be even easier. All you need to do is close the gate at every second on-ramp and put an "Evacuation Route ->" sign on the opposite direction's off-ramp and move on to the next one.
Again, more people will need to be involved to make this work. Perhaps as an extension of the police auxilary... maybe the "Evacuation Corps". Give it a name and a special hat and the volunteers will come. Maybe a tax credit as well....
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Having lived through the propane explosions "mandatory evacuation" I can tell you that overall our preparedness is very low here.
The police were calling it a "mandatory evacuation" yet not once did anyone come up the street and tell us to get out. We left at 4 in the morning while the propane was blowing up. Some of my neighbors did the same while others stayed, in some cases because they didn't turn the TV on to find out.
Granted, we were just at the edge of the 1.6 km zone and we were probably perfectly safe just south of the 401 but this is not the point. When I went to come home on Sunday night a cop was blocking my way and told us it was a mandatory evacuation.
To this I say "Bull Sh*t"! If it was mandatory then they should have gone up and down the streets telling people to get out. If it was mandatory then I should not have been able to go around the corner and come in off the MAIN street (I was blocked trying to come in off a minor street).
As for resources, they had enough available to them. The reserves are DESIGNED for this exact purpose in mind, not to mention the police auxiliary.
Some people I've spoken to regarding the reserves have told me that they doubt anyone would have showed up if a call out had been made. So that's your answer? Don't bother calling them because they might not show up? In that case I suggest an IMMEDIATE disbandment of all reserve units. What's the point in having them if we don't use them because we think they might not show up if we call?
Once an evacuation of this size was determined necessary (As early as 4 am by Toronto Fire), it should have been apparent that a call out was needed. All local reserve units should have been stood too and unarmed reservists should have been posted all around the 1.6 km radius as they showed up.
The police should have then taken additional reservists and police auxiliary and gone door to door within the 1.6 km zone ordering everyone out and providing physical security to the area.
Would this have been over-reacting? If it was a mandatory evacuation as they kept saying then NO it is not an overreaction, it is the only way to successfully perform the task at hand. What about the fact that the evacuation turned out to not be necessary? Well this is 20/20 hindsight and at the time when the danger existed it was a reasonable precaution. In addition it would have made an excellent "Live Fire Exercise" (Pun intended) to get the municipality and military working together.
I can only hope that in hindsight the powers that be realize what a screw up the "Mandatory Evacuation" was and take the time to involve local military commanders in their emergency plans.
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