Not sure about the enforceability of evacuation orders in your area as it changes from place to place. It’s the local authorities advising you and your family that mandatory evacuation orders are in effect for your neighborhood. However, the federal government has similar powers to enforce orders of public safety, particularly in wartime. If you’re ever in an area when there is a mandatory evacuation that you choose to ignore, you should know that by ignoring the order, you could get into serious trouble. Voluntary vs. mandatory evacuations. All states have statutes that give their governors power to take emergency action during a disaster, and some states, like Florida, specifically allow for the governor to order mandatory evacuations. Once the order is given, law enforcement officers are well within their rights to force you to leave. Mandatory evacuations are typically local and state decisions. If you’re ever in an area when there is a mandatory evacuation that you choose to ignore, you should know that by ignoring the order, you could get into serious trouble. Here in Texas as of September 1, 2009 it is illegal to refuse evacuation orders directed to you by your local authorities. Once the order is given, law enforcement officers are well within their rights to force you to leave. Once the order is given, law enforcement officers are well within their rights to force you to leave. Other states, like North Carolina have an evacuation statute, making violation of an evacuation order a … If you’re ever in an area when there is a mandatory evacuation that you choose to ignore, you should know that by ignoring the order, you could get into serious trouble. If you’re ever in an area when there is a mandatory evacuation that you choose to ignore, you should know that by ignoring the order, you could get into serious trouble. Insufficient attention has been given to the ethical and legal questions surrounding mandatory evacuation in disasters and emergencies. That power is left solely to the states. More disasters mean more evacuation orders. Looking through the 2017 Florida Statues yields zero results for the mention of “mandatory evacuation”–or any permutation thereof–in relation to any sort of criminal penalty for residents who choose to ignore such orders and stay. 418.185. “Everyone must evacuate,” says the hurried and worried emergency service worker – after all, her own family is waiting for her at home to finalize their own preparations. Those orders come in two flavors: voluntary and mandatory. This is somewhat of a legal grey area. Now widely recognized as a mistake, the forced internment of Japanese-Americans and others during World War II was regarded as an evacuation at the time. MANDATORY EVACUATION. But when disaster looms, it’s not the federal government that issues those evacuation orders. Texas in a new law that started Tuesday is the first state to give police complete power to arrest people that ignore mandatory evacuation orders and forcibly remove them from their home. Once the order is given, law enforcement officers are well within their rights to force you to leave. A new law means you could be fined and charged with a crime if you don't pack up and leave when local emergency management officials issue a mandatory evacuation order. No, you are not legally obligated to leave. In a phone call, he said that ignoring a mandatory evacuation order was a crime. For my fellow Texans, here are some highlights from Sec.