Evacuation There may be times before, during or after a disaster when it is unsafe to stay in your home, school, or workplace. In Rhode Island, the decision about whether to evacuate is made by local officials. Evacuation notices can happen quickly and without warning, so it is important to be prepared. Download the Evacuation Plan & Checklist Guide to prepare before an evacuation order is made. Evacuation Maps In 2013, Rhode Island's 21 coastal communities received community-wide evacuation maps from the United States Army Corps of Engineer (USACE) as a product of the Hurricane Evacuation Study. The maps show Hurricane Evacuation Zones that are recommended to be evacuated from during potential worst-case Hurricane Surge Inundation. Evacuation Zone “A”, shown in red, is recommended to be evacuated prior to an expected category 1 or 2 hurricane. Evacuation Zone “B”, shown in yellow is recommended to be evacuated prior to an expected category 3 or 4 hurricane. For more information on the hurricane categories view the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. To view a local evacuation map click on the corresponding community name below. Evacuation Maps Barrington Little Compton Portsmouth Bristol Middletown Providence Charlestown Narragansett South Kingstown Cranston Newport Tiverton East Greenwich New Shoreham Warren East Providence North Kingstown Warwick Jamestown Pawtucket Westerly Evacuation Plan & Checklist Guide PDF file, less than 1mbmegabytes