264 The UMAP Journal 22.3 (2001) Authorities Fear Floyd Repeat, Enlist Help of Undergraduates 、 ARDEN HILLS,MN,FEB.12—than12 counties. esponding to complaints over the Such an evacuation would involve disorder of South Carolina s 1999 all in the area being divided coastal evacuation in preparation for among 9 separate evacuation routes Hurricane Floyd, authorities enlisted and released in a timed fashion. Using the aid of three undergraduates from the timings and routings suggested by Bethel College. The task set before the Bethel team, the entire coast could the three young mathematicians was be evacuated within a reasonable time to plan an orderly and timely evacua- and the travel time for individual ve tion of South Carolina's coastal region. hicles could be kept to a minimum A denial of funding for travel ex- Compared to the 1999 evacua penses prevented the students from tion, when fewer than 800,000 people making an on-site inspection, but they were evacuated, the Bethel model can managed to get a feel for the territory evacuate more than 1.1 million peo- tecb ps and census reports. ple. Much of this increase can be at- Using a technique they dubbed "Ab- tributed to grid-lock prevention, lane- stracted Flow Modeling, "the team doubling, and access restriction to the constructed several computer mod- main highways els of what a full coastal evacuation Concerned citizens should be on would involve. Using all the tools the lookout for announcements con- available to them and a little humanin- cerning route assignments and depar- tuition, the trio created a 26-hour sce- ture timings for their neighborhoods nario for the full evacuation of more Nathan Gossett, Barbara Hess, and Michael Page in Arden Hills, MN264 The UMAP Journal 22.3 (2001) Authorities Fear Floyd Repeat, Enlist Help of Undergraduates Arden Hills, MN, Feb. 12ó Responding to complaints over the disorder of South Carolinaís 1999 coastal evacuation in preparation for Hurricane Floyd, authorities enlisted the aid of three undergraduates from Bethel College. The task set before the three young mathematicians was to plan an orderly and timely evacua￾tion of South Carolinaís coastal region. A denial of funding for travel ex￾penses prevented the students from making an on-site inspection, but they managed to get a feel for the territory based on maps and census reports. Using a technique they dubbed ìAb￾stracted Flow Modeling,î the team constructed several computer mod￾els of what a full coastal evacuation would involve. Using all the tools available to them and a little human in￾tuition, the trio created a 26-hour sce￾nario for the full evacuation of more than 12 counties. Such an evacuation would involve all people in the area being divided among 9 separate evacuation routes and released in a timed fashion. Using the timings and routings suggested by the Bethel team, the entire coast could be evacuated within a reasonable time and the travel time for individual ve￾hicles could be kept to a minimum. Compared to the 1999 evacua￾tion, when fewer than 800,000 people were evacuated, the Bethel model can evacuate more than 1.1 million peo￾ple. Much of this increase can be at￾tributed to grid-lock prevention, lane￾doubling, and access restriction to the main highways. Concerned citizens should be on the lookout for announcements con￾cerning route assignments and depar￾ture timings for their neighborhoods. ó Nathan Gossett, Barbara Hess, and Michael Page in Arden Hills, MN