Gov. Mark Sanford's effort to improve hurricane evacuations is commendable, but it should not be viewed as a panacea.

Evacuation is a growing challenge, even with the plan to convert more lanes to outgoing traffic, which Sanford announced this week for coastal cities, including Hilton Head Island.

More people live along the coast as each new hurricane season arrives. Normal daily traffic congestion along U.S. 278 should indicate why evacuations are increasingly a problem for state and local governments all along America's coastline. In 1999, simultaneous evacuations in South Carolina and Georgia led to unprecedented gridlock from the beach to the foothills.

The Sanford family was among those caught in the jam of people trying to leave the Charleston area four years ago. It took them six hours to get from Charleston to Columbia.

Former Gov. Jim Hodges took a lot of heat for being slow to react to the gridlock, and it was the lane-reversal issue that the public hit hardest.

It is better to have a governor addressing the lane-reversal issue early. But in Beaufort County, there was a problem with this week's media event. The problem was one of communication, which is fundamental to all evacuation planning and execution. The governor had not shown his final plan to the local sheriff. No local fire department or law enforcement representatives were at the governor's news conference. That is not good.

Sanford said all four lanes of U.S. 278 could be converted to outgoing traffic under certain conditions. The current local plan, which is an improvement over previous plans, calls for three outgoing lanes, leaving one lane open for emergency vehicles to travel east. Now it will be up to the local authorities to work out the many details on the governor's new lane-reversal plan.

The governor and state emergency planners don't think the full lane-reversal plan will be needed if the public is well-prepared for a hurricane evacuation. That preparation includes everyone who can possibly leave early getting out before the congestion begins.

Every family and every business in southern Beaufort County needs a personal evacuation plan: Where will you go? How will you get there? What lane do you need to be in when U.S. 278 intersects with Interstate 95? What will be taken? When will you leave? How will you know when it is safe to return?

Remember that during the evacuation for Hurricane Floyd four years ago, some people had to go as far as Tennessee to find a hotel room. And many churches throughout South Carolina and Georgia became impromptu evacuation shelters as families were stuck along highways.

Between the knowledge of recent experience and the advance warnings of the governor, the public should understand that now is the time to do its homework on evacuations.

There is no silver bullet to eliminate congestion and stress in a coastal evacuation. But personal preparation and governmental communication can help prevent disaster.