In Case You Missed It . . .

Additional coverage of ITS America's Smart Solution Spotlight award-winning project - Houston TranStar's hurricane evacuation map:
- "Hurricane Evacuation, Security Systems Tested" (KRIV-TV FOX Houston)
- "City is Better Prepared for Hurricane Evacuation" (KUHF Houston Public Radio)
- "New Web Based Hurricane Evacuation Map Announced" (KIAH-TV Houston)
- "Houston TranStar unveils web-based hurricane evacuation map today" (ITS International)

MSNBC.com

Map To Help Authorities During Hurricane Evacuation
Hurricane Season Runs June 1 Through Nov. 30
updated 7:31 a.m. ET, Wed., April 7, 2010

HOUSTON - A new tool has been designed to help officials ease traffic during a hurricane evacuation, KPRC Local 2 reported.

The evacuation status map allows authorities to coordinate with each other in real time to help the 5.9 million people who live in the Gulf Coast region evacuate safely during a major hurricane.

It will display information on incidents, construction, weather conditions, evacuation zones, emergency responder deployment and more. It will also allow outlying jurisdictions to post and update their personnel and equipment location and status.

There are an average of nine named storms, including six hurricanes, each year. The Weather Research Center, based in Houston, has predicted that the 2010 hurricane season will have eight named storms, including five hurricanes with a 60 percent chance that a storm will make landfall on the Texas coast. AccuWeather has predicted there will be 15 named storms, including five hurricanes. It predicts that seven of the 15 storms will make landfall, with three being major.

Hurricane season begins June 1 and ends on Nov. 30.

Authorities are trying to prevent the traffic nightmares caused by Hurricane Rita in 2005. Lessons learned from that paved the way to map for Texas' 13-county Gulf Coast region.

"During Hurricane Rita, one of our major problems was getting information to everybody in a timely fashion," said David Fink of the Texas Department of Transportation.

The map has already earned the ITS America Smart Solution Spotlight award, which highlights the country's most innovative uses of intelligent transit systems.

The map is not available for the general public's use.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36195590/ns/local_news-houston_tx/
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