Florida issues evacuation orders by zone. A county-wide order is rare, and "I am not in an evacuation zone" is a sentence people say confidently and wrongly every season.
Find your zone
Florida maintains a statewide Know Your Zone lookup. Your zone is determined mainly by storm surge risk and is lettered or lettered-and-numbered, with A typically being the most vulnerable. Look yours up at FloridaDisaster.org, or through your county emergency management office, which publishes its own zone maps and shelter list.
Decide the plan now
- Where would you go? A friend or family inland, a hotel outside the surge zone, or a public shelter. Public shelters are a last resort: they are crowded, they may not accept pets, and they offer little comfort.
- How would you get there? Fuel, route, and a backup route. Bridges close in high wind.
- Who needs help? Anyone elderly, disabled, without transport, or dependent on powered medical equipment needs a plan and often registration with the county in advance. Do not leave this to the day of the storm.
- What about pets? Many shelters do not accept them. See Preparing Your Pets.
If you are not in an evacuation zone
You may still lose power for days and be unable to leave. Prepare to shelter in place: supplies, water, medication, and a way to get information without electricity. Being outside a surge zone is not the same as being unaffected.
If an order is issued for your zone, leave. Evacuation orders exist because of storm surge, which is the leading cause of death in Florida hurricanes. This page does not replace your county's instructions.