About Prioritizing Incident-Affected Areas

After incident areas have been identified, they can be prioritized for evacuation. Areas with a higher number are considered more important than those with lower numbers. By default, all areas are assigned a priority of 0.

Although priority areas can be drawn on the map, affected areas can be copied from the Affected tab to the Priority tab so that they don't have to be redrawn.

To copy an area, click the Create Priority Area button in the lower-right corner of a section in the Affected tab:

Priority areas can be created independently of affected areas or copied from an affected area. This means that affected areas may not necessarily be the same areas or regions as priority areas.

Specific methods can be used to prioritize affected areas by clicking the corresponding buttons on the heading of the Priority tab's pane.

Table 1. Description of Methods for Prioritizing Affected Areas

Method	Button	Description
Add point and radius area		Map a prioritized area using a point and radius to identify an incident-affected area on the map in a circle.
Add polygon area		Draw a free-hand polygon to identify a prioritized area on the map.
Add regional area		Select a predefined polygon in the system and label it as a prioritized area on the map.