Topic 11: Evacuation

Overview

This Topic deals with many of the issues that need to be considered when the evacuation of people is being considered.

The event which is the basis of your major assignment for this subject may not have involved any evacuation. If this is the case, this will not prevent you from researching what arrangements were in place at the time, including who had the responsibility to do what and when in that community if and when some sort of evacuation had have been necessary.

The Topic is divided into three sections: the concept of evacuation; the effects of an evacuation on a community; and a case study of the evacuation of Darwin following Cyclone Tracy in 1975.

All through the Topic you will be given guidelines on your major report (Assignment 2) work related to this Topic. Activities in the topic are designed to provide a base of information against which your assignment work can be constructed.

Learning outcomes

When you have completed study for this Topic you will be able to:

• state the key points to be considered when contemplating an evacuation;
• list and describe the effects any evacuation may have on a community;
• describe the specific effects that evacuation had on the city of Darwin;
• analyse and report on the evacuation management aspects that were developed and implemented during the impact phase of your selected emergency/disaster event, or where no evacuation was required, analyse and report on the evacuation management arrangements and strategies that were developed within that community and whether they would have been effective or not had they been required to be implemented.