I Have a Question About “Evacuation”

When they say they are evacuating a city I always assumed (uh oh) that meant they were doing something to get people out. Not just telling them to leave. To me, evacuation means busses and trucks to get people out and (probably) a destination to go to. Am I wrong? Have I watched to many movies?

3 responses to “I Have a Question About “Evacuation”

  1. When we had those horrible fires in San Diego a couple of years back, “evacuation” meant that people moved themselves out of the affected areas… there were no vehicles brought in to assist them at any time. I think evacuating generally means that people are told to get out; I’ve never heard of the evacuation of a place meaning that people stood around waiting to be picked up… not even in a movie, but I tend not to watch disaster flicks.

  2. I didn’t really mean stand around waiting…

    I figured the people who have a way out wouldn’t wait for a ride. As with public transportation, I thought only those who need it would use it. But in my head I always pictured something being available.

  3. Technically, “evacuation” means to suck all the air out of something. But everyone uses it wrong. :)

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