Treyger Introduced Emergency Evacuation Bill

NEW YORK – Council Member Mark Treyger, Co-Chair of the Council’s Brooklyn Delegation and Chair of the Committee on Recovery and Resiliency, introduced two pieces of legislation at this afternoon’s City Council State Meeting designed to improve emergency evacuation procedures. One of the bills would require NYC Emergency Management to maintain a voluntary registry of people with disabilities who may need assistance evacuating. The other bill tasks NYC Emergency Management with creating a website allowing people to notify family and friends of their location and status in the event of emergency circumstances as a result of extreme weather, natural disasters, order to evacuate, or acts of terrorism, among others.

The creation of a registry of disabled people who might require help evacuating in times of crisis would allow the City to better plan and execute should emergency situations arise. One quarter of New York City’s Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) is located in Hurricane Evacuation Zone 1. In total, 15 of New York City’s 25 NORCs are located in Hurricane Evacuation Zones.

During and after Hurricane Sandy, 5,500 seniors in the City’s coastal communities waited without power for up to three days to be evacuated. Seniors with mobility issues or in need of life-sustaining medical devices such as ventilators faced particular challenges as a result. In Louisiana, nearly two-thirds of Hurricane Katrina casualties were over the age of 65.

In the event of a crisis during which communications utilities have been compromised, Treyger’s second bill would allow displaced or potentially displaced people to register on a voluntary website. Registered users would be able to post their location, status, contact information, and a short message, accessible only to those individuals in possession of user-created password.

Only a registrant’s full name and date of registration would be available to the general public. The website would also permit people to receive an e-mail notification when an individual with a specified name registers for the service. Information regarding use of the website would be distributed throughout evacuation shelters and through public awareness materials.

“Emergency situations are inherently fraught with more questions than answers. These are tumultuous circumstances during which many things can be uncertain. But New Yorkers have been faced with enough challenges to learn from our mistakes. There is no reason we cannot be better prepared to ensure that evacuations during time of crisis are carried out in as well-planned and orderly a fashion as possible. We can save lives by making sure that the City is prepared to help our most vulnerable population in the event of an evacuation.

We can also help alleviate worry and concern by creating a method for people to notify their loved ones of their location and status in the event that certain methods of communication are not operational. Unfortunately, many New Yorkers are all too familiar with the nerve-racking stress of not knowing whether their loved ones were safe in the hours after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Some residents who were forced to evacuate their homes because of Hurricane Sandy were also unable to get in touch with the individuals closest to them either. This bill would create a safe, secure method of letting your loved ones know where you are and what your status, without having to broadcast such private information over social media.”

– Council Member Mark Treyger, Chair of the Committee on Recovery and Resiliency