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Two things drive the decision: whether your zone has been ordered to evacuate, and whether your building is safe for the wind it will face.
Evacuate if
- Your zone has been ordered to evacuate. This is not a suggestion and it is not negotiable. Orders are issued for surge and flooding.
- You live in a mobile or manufactured home. These are not safe in hurricane-force wind regardless of zone.
- You are in a flood-prone area, near water, or on a barrier island.
- You depend on powered medical equipment and have no reliable backup.
- Your home is already damaged, under construction, or has unrepaired openings.
Sheltering in place is reasonable if
- Your zone is not under an order, and
- You are in a well-built, closed structure away from water, and
- You have supplies for at least a week without power or water.
If you shelter in place
- Stay away from windows. Interior room, no windows, lowest floor that is not flood-prone.
- Keep a way to hear official information that does not need mains power — battery radio or a charged phone.
- Fill bathtubs before the water goes if you may need it for flushing.
- Do not go outside during the calm of the eye. The back side of the storm arrives with little warning and from the opposite direction.
- Do not run a generator, grill or camp stove indoors. See Generator Safety.
Always follow your county emergency management office. Nothing on this page overrides an evacuation order.
Where this came from
This article summarises published guidance from Florida Division of Emergency Management. Read the original at the source — it is more current than any summary, including this one.
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General information, not advice. This is a summary of published guidance for Florida residents. It is not legal, insurance, medical or construction advice, and it is not a substitute for instructions from your county emergency management office, an emergency responder, your insurer or a qualified professional. Storm conditions, laws and programmes change — confirm anything you intend to rely on with the official source above.
Spot an error? Tell us — we correct promptly.
· All storm knowledge
