ROBERTSDALE, Ala. – When a hurricane threatens the Alabama coast everyone can simply board up their home and leave town, right? Not so, according to Leigh Ann Ryals, director of the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency. She pointed out some are too frail, disadvantaged or otherwise impaired to do anything but stay put, and a survey is planned to help address their needs.

The Alabama Hurricane Evacuation Project was discussed Wednesday morning, April 1, by around four dozen state and local officials, leaders of community organizations, hospital personnel, and first responders. It is designed to look at critical transportation needs, and find solutions to what Hurricane Katrina revealed to be a very big problem.

Many New Orleans residents died in part because of the absence of a coordinated effort to assist in a large-scale evacuation. But other potential problems exist here, including evacuation zones that don’t reflect a newly updated flood threat map, uncertainty over how many might need assistance to leave when danger exists and a question whether current routes designated for a quick exit are adequate with a population now estimated to be more than 174,000.

“We’re reevaluating our transportation network,” said Ryals. “Are our evacuation routes keeping up with our population trends? How can we change and make better evacuation plans?”

She noted there is a possibility the county EMA is overreacting in some cases when sounding the alarm, because residents who actually need to be moved out are instead remaining behind in areas prone to flooding simply because they happen to reside north of a roadway named in an evacuation order.

“These evacuation zones were done 10 years ago,” Ryals said, pointing out the unexpected consequences of Katrina in the county. “If you’re in the delta and you’re not in an evacuation zone, you might not leave because you don’t think it applies to you.”

Phone surveys will soon be conducted in order to determine where those who need some form of evacuation assistance live, and what their particular circumstances are.

Ryals said the indigent, those eligible for financial assistance, the medically infirmed, the mentally impaired, the elderly and others who need special help will be located, mapped and logged. The evacuation zones will also be tweaked as part of work that is expected to be completed prior to the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

The project is managed by the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, with the assistance of Fairfax, Va.-based Dewberry & Davis, a consulting firm specializing in program management and planning. The effort is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Sociologist Betty Hearn Morrow of Dewberry & Davis, who experienced firsthand the human tragedy of Hurricane Andrew’s 1992 trek through south Florida, said, “A disaster like that rips open the social fabric. We talk about neighbors helping neighbors, but that doesn’t last very long. It gets very competitive. After Andrew, they were competing for resources.”

The study will rely not only on direct contacts, but also the help of community agencies that can identify their clients who are most vulnerable and would be unable to leave when a hurricane is approaching.

Ryals said, “Just because people have a car doesn’t mean they have the means to put gas in that car, or that it will make it to Birmingham. A lot of these people are living paycheck to paycheck. (Because of the economy), some who had the means to leave no longer do. We can’t wait so long to push that (evacuation) button.”

Foley Police Chief David Wilson agreed. He said, “Even people with cars might not have the means to get a hotel room. In this county, there are people who can’t afford to leave.”

Pockets of poverty exist in Baldwin County, and there is a higher than average senior population, 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimates suggest.

Morrow said many prefer to stay with friends or family when they flee prior to a storm, but not all have that option. By identifying now those who have nowhere to go and where they live, she said, they won’t be left behind when the time comes.

“This emphasizes how important it is to have education and interact with the people we serve,” Morrow said. “The frail and elderly feel insecure in their home and want to evacuate even if you don’t think they need to.”

The new Baldwin County Coliseum in Robertsdale, which was built to withstand a major hurricane and shelter nearly 2,000 people, is one of a handful of facilities added in recent years to enable residents to remain safe without having to leave the area. Ryals said careful planning will make everyone sleep a bit easier as hurricane season approaches.