Should Location of Public Shelters Be Disclosed?

Today, I attended the second day of a very informative workshop dealing with issues of regional evacuation planning within Northern Nevada. The presenter, Jonathan Best of Disaster By Design LLC, shed light on the challenges of dealing with issues of disclosure of information before and during disasters.

The focus of the second was on issues like critical issues like crisis communication, evacuation routes and public shelters. One issue that caught my personal attention is this:

Is it Ok for emergency management authorities not to disclose the location of public shelters and potential evacuation routes to the general public?

Upon reflecting on the issue, I found reasons both in favor and not in favor of disclosing the location of shelters and evacuation routes.

Based on the public ’s right to know, one may argue that:

• It is in the interest of the public to know the location of these places and routes regardless,
• Whoever refuses to disclose these places of public interest should be willing to face consequence in event of a disaster
• It is the absolute of the public to be informed in a democratic and pluralistic society

On the other hand, one may also argue that it is not a wise thing to disclose because:

• It is in the interest of the public to protect this information because terrorist may abuse such information
• It allows authorities to make adjustments depending on the kind of disaster that occurs
• Non disclosure enables the citizens to follow instructions from authorities and not rush to shelters- perhaps creating issue.

According to the workshop leader, Mr Best, issues of disclosure vary from place to place. He explained that he believes the issue is best resolved at a local level.

Please share with us what you think. 

Should public authorities disclose or not disclose the location of public shelters and evacuation routes to the general public prior to disasters? Leave a comment. Thanks!

Gideon F. For-mukwai, CEM

Reno, Nevada Emergency Management Blogger

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Road to Ready Show Rides on Edutainment

Featured Emergency Manager

It is about time emergency managers make emergency preparedness fun and educational enough to inform, teach and tickle the funny bone. Rick Tobin, the producer of Internet radio show ‘The Road to Ready,” has been doing a fun and lively emergency preparedness program that serves slices of information and humor for years.

Founder, TAO Emergency Consulting

For years, listeners have been drawn to Mr. Tobin ‘s style of emergency preparedness edutainment served with comic relief. Making information fun and lively made a significant difference and the show covered topics that had an impact on the lives of everyday people and corporations.

In his weekly radio show out of San Antonio, Texas, Mr. Tobin reminds his audiences of the threats facing large sections of the population. To drive the point home, he relates the issues to individuals, corporations and communities. At the end of every show, he makes a call to action.

In the past, he has tackled issues like evacuations, church disaster planning, hurricane planning and family emergency preparedness to name a few.

Looking into the future, Mr. Tobin foresees increasing use of social media like Facebook and Twitter and more. He however thinks that social media tools are largely untested.

As disasters become more challenging, people will increasingly need to glue together through networking and collaboration for readiness. Social media will hopefully facilitate that conversation.

Over the years, Mr. Tobin has worked as a consultant for government, businesses and communities in California, Nevada and Texas. His company, TAO Emergency Consulting was founded in 1987.

Mr Tobin says he is driven by his primary desire to preserve life through effective preparedness. Though he is concerned about the future of his radio show due to faltering sponsorships, he is convinced he will continue to lead TAO Emergency Consulting.

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