Hurricane Evacuees Expected to Cause Spike in Covid-19 Infections

In a study simulating the consequences of a Category 3 hurricane affecting four South Florida coronavirus hotspots, scientists from Columbia University have concluded that, if residents utilize similar hurricane evacuation routes followed during previous hurricane seasons, there would be a 20% increase in new coronavirus cases compared to not evacuating at all. While the authors acknowledge that human behavior after a hurricane cannot be perfectly predicted, they do warn that smarter evacuations procedures will be necessary to reduce the spread of disease. In other simulations, the authors found that guiding evacuees to Florida counties with stricter public health measures and lower disease transmission rates led to significantly less new cases. Based off these findings, emergency managers along evacuation routes should consider the impact of infected civilians traveling through those areas on their operations. If this migration is not managed appropriately, these routes and the shelters that evacuees stay at could quickly become new coronavirus hotspots. Read more at GovTech.