Emergency evacuation
Videos
An emergency evacuation is an immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property.
Evacuees on Interstate 45 leaving Galveston, through Houston, during Hurricane Rita in 2005. Note how no south-bound lanes (right) were used as north contra-flow lanes for vehicles turning west.
Evacuation bus in Dnipro, Ukraine during war.
An exit sign in the United States, showing the way to the nearest exit, with two emergency lights in case an electrical failure knocks out room lighting.
Operation guide metal plate for emergency exits installed in the school bus window.
Hurricane Rita
Videos
Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico, now tied with Hurricane Milton of 2024, as well as being one of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record ove
Emergency evacuation
…the result of natural disasters. The largest peacetime evacuations in the United States to date occurred during Hurricane Gustav and the category-5 Hurricane Rita (2005) in a scare one month after the flood-deaths of Hurricane Katrina. Despite mandatory evacuation orders, many people did not leave New Orleans…
Hurricane Rita near its peak intensity on September 21
Tropical Storm Rita over the eastern Bahamas on September 18
Hurricane Rita as a Category 2 hurricane crossing the Florida Straits
Motorists stranded on Highway 60 during Hurricane Rita evacuation.