Charleston County announces evacuation pick-up points

Hoping to avoid a Lowcountry replay of the scores of stranded citizens seen in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Charleston County and municipal officials this morning announced the designation of 75 evacuation pick-up points for residents who don’t have transportation in the event of a mandatory evacuation. Blue signs that state “Hurricane Evacuation Bus Stop” will be posted throughout the county beginning this week, at all 75 pick-up point locations. The move by Charleston County’s Emergency Preparedness Division represents an enhancement of its longstanding policy to provide emergency transportation from designated pick-up points, and is an acknowledgement of the region’s rapid growth in recent years. As a result of the patterns of that growth, some previous pick-up locations have been changed. “The goal is for residents who don’t have transportation to identify these pick-up points prior to an emergency and to know where they should go if they need a ride to a shelter,” said Cathy Haynes, Charleston County's Emergency Preparedness Division director. The evacuation pick-up points are in locations that are well-known to citizens who live near them. They are located at churches, grocery stores and schools, and many of them are co-located with CARTA bus stop locations. The pick-up points were chosen for their ability to provide a safe location for people to congregate away from traffic and for having a parking lot or area for buses to pull off the road and safely load passengers without blocking evacuation traffic routes. A new pick-up point list has been sent to more than 1,000 Charleston County nonprofit organizations, government agencies, places of worship and neighborhood associations. The evacuation pick-up point signs are being posted in a coordinated effort between Charleston County and the city of Charleston.

as provided by Charleston Regional Business Journal By Dan McCue , Staff Writer