Risks Associated with both Evacuation and Shelter-in-Place Include:

If the public is not educated and prepared to evacuate or SIP, either protective action can cause problems. The public might not know where to evacuate to, causing them to move into the hazard instead of out of it.
If the media is not properly informed by emergency responders and/or public officials, they could give incomplete, inaccurate, or false information, resulting in an inappropriate response from the public.
Finally, if a facility (e.g., a hospital) is asked to shelter in place, but the surrounding residential community is ordered to evacuate, family members and others may be confused and upset.