Evacuation/migration

SUDDEN ONSET Evacuation involves the relocation of a population from zones at risk of an imminent disaster to a safer location. Evacuation is most commonly associated with tropical storms but is also a frequent requirement with technological or industrial accidents. For evacuation to work there must be a timely and accurate warning system, clear identification of escape routes, an established policy that requires everyone to evacuate when an order is given, and a public education programme to make the community aware of the plan.

SLOW ONSET The movement of people from the zone where they are at risk to a safer site is not, in fact, evacuation but crisis-induced migration. This movement is usually not organized and coordinated by authorities but is a spontaneous response to the perception by the migrants that food and/or security can be obtained elsewhere.