Risk-informed assessment of Scott Stadium evacuation through agent-based simulation

The risk of personal injury from lightning and other threats is increasing without being consistently addressed through continuous improvement of evacuation operations. Three major factors contribute to this growing risk. First, natural and man-made disasters (e.g., lightning storms) remain a constant threat. Second, stadium expansion, renovation, and increased utilization allow more spectators at a greater number of events, which amplifies nation-wide exposure to both natural and man-made disasters. Third, evacuation and disaster management plans are quite complex because they require the coordination of spectators, ushers, managers, police officers, firefighters, medical teams, and athletes, among others, and do not always keep up with the changes to stadium or community emergency management procedures. Analysts are increasingly able to capture certain individual and crowd behaviors through simulation. Our team has constructed a simulation by section, ensuring the quality and correctness of the utilized computer drawings and making corrections as necessary to build a valid model. Through analysis of individual subsections of the stadium, we have noticed that 99% of the attendees within the 70 sections of a total of approximately 60,000 people evacuated in about 19 minutes, with 50% of the population evacuated in 6 minutes and 95% of the population evacuated within 15 minutes. The full capacity evacuation started with evacuees in the stands, and the first evacuees reached the exits within the first minute.