Each year, it’s something we hope we don’t have to do – evacuate due to a hurricane threat.
This year, COVID-19 makes it a lot more complicated.
Local leaders have been working hard to plan for the double threat while realizing people may not want to leave their homes due to COVID-19.
Here’s a county-by-county breakdown of what could happen this year if an evacuation order is needed in our area. Keep in mind this could change depending on COVID-19 this summer and fall.
You can find a link to interactive evacuation maps on our website https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/weather/hurricane-center
Here, we are focusing on evacuations. If you need information on how COVID-19 is causing changes in shelters, click here.
Captain Dave DeCarlo, former Director of Emergency Management:
How has your county’s overall hurricane plan changed because of COVID-19?
Life safety will always be our primary concern. We have to question what is the most immediate threat to the loss of life.
Hurricanes can bring storm surge along the coast, inland flooding due to heavy rainfall, strong damaging winds, or tornadoes. Those hazards bring power outages, prolonged flooding, downed power lines, blocked roads, flying debris, collapsed houses, buildings, and other structures, or possible gas shortages.
While addressing the immediate threat of the hurricane, we’ll respond in a manner that best protects first responders and the public at large, following the CDC recommended guidelines to the best of our ability.
How should citizens prepare?
Understand this, planning efforts will be different this year because of COVID-19. Residents should be sure to give themselves more time than usual to prepare your emergency food, water, and medical supplies.
As we have learned from past hurricane seasons, it is recommended to have a seven day supply of non-perishable food and water. You need one gallon of water per day, per person, who may live in their household.
Hurricanes are not just a coastal problem, significant impacts can be felt miles inland. Learn what evacuation area you live in and where to find the tide tables. It’s also a good idea to know the elevation of your home or business.
Develop an evacuation plan. If you have to evacuate, plan for multiple options of where you would go and how you could get there. Write your plan down, and share it with family members.
Assemble disaster supplies now, not when the hurricane is off the coast of Florida.
Strengthen your home and make improvements. Take the time to trim or take down dead trees and limbs on your property. Also, don’t forget to review your current insurance policies.
Help your neighbor(s). Many people, especially our senior population, rely on the assistance of neighbors before and after a hurricane strikes.
Essential information and planning tools are available at your fingertips via the CCSO mobile app. Some features include evacuation maps. This map helps provide a visual of where your home may be located in various evacuation zones.
Residents can also access emergency information at https://www.sheriffcitrus.org/emergency-management.php.
Emergency Management Director Cecilia Patella:
How will you handle evacuations and the COVID-19?
There will be no change to how we internally handle evacuations, as we will be using the same guidelines as always for decision-making purposes.
For the public, however, we will be emphasizing evacuation zones, age and type of structure, size, and the scope of the event. In other words, we're asking residents to strongly consider if the evacuation order applies to them based on where they live, to determine whether or not they need to evacuate.
If they can be safe staying at home, then that is the goal.
If you are uncertain if an evacuation order applies to you, reach out to the county’s Emergency Operations Center.
We also encourage residents to visit www.HernandoCounty.us/EM to learn more about how to make a plan, build a kit, and stay informed this hurricane season.
Residents should visit www.AlertHernando.org to sign up to receive emergency alerts for their area, as well.
Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley:
This is one of the most important hurricane seasons our residents have ever prepared for.
When it comes to a hurricane supply kit, you may need to start gathering supplies earlier. Supplies are limited because of COVID-19, so they might be harder to find. With so many people needing the same supplies, don’t buy more than you need.
This year, you might want to rethink whom you will stay with if you are told to evacuate. If you make plans now, you might not need to go to a shelter.
There will be more shelters this year due to the extra space needed to ensure proper distancing due to COVID-19. This could mean using hotels that are outside of surge zones.
Will you continue to use schools as shelters?
Yes. We may need to use more schools. As stated above, hotels outside of the surge zones are also under consideration for evacuation shelters.
Emergency Management Chief Steve Litschauer:
Evacuations are for people who live in areas threatened by a storm surge and for people who live in manufactured or mobile homes.
If you must evacuate, you are encouraged to stay with family or friends who live outside of the evacuation area.
A shelter should be your last resort. Shelters are typically loud and crowded, but COVID-19 will change how many people are allowed in a shelter. Shelters are in select public schools.
Learn the strength of your home and whether it’s in an evacuation zone. If it is, make an evacuation plan now.
This year, more than ever, we're stressing that people should know the strength of their homes and whether they can withstand an intense storm.
If people live in older homes or mobile homes, they most definitely need to know where they'll go if a storm is approaching. People need to evacuate tens of miles from home, not hundreds from home as we saw in Hurricane Irma.
Follow Manatee County Emergency Management on Facebook and Twitter @MCGPublicSafety.
Emergency Management Director Andrew Fossa:
COVID-19 brings an unprecedented set of challenges this hurricane season that Pasco County is actively preparing for in coordination with regional and state partners.
We anticipate state sheltering recommendations may change, and that for a Category 1 or Category 2 hurricane, if you live in a home built after 1996 that is not a mobile home or in a flood zone, you may be told to shelter at home.
COVID-19 changes sheltering logistics with a need for more space to accommodate social distancing, which translates to more locations depending upon the number of people ordered to evacuate.
Aside from having your go-kits ready, now is the time to plan for you, your loved ones, and pets. If you must evacuate, your first choice should be to stay with family and friends.
Plan to evacuate tens of miles away, not hundreds. A shelter should always be your option of last resort, and that can’t be emphasized enough during a pandemic.
Sheltering at home or with family in a safe structure is your best protection against respiratory illness exposure.
Visit www.PascoEmergencyManagement.com to view our Disaster Guide and Emergency Preparedness Video Series. Both are produced by Pasco Emergency Management specifically for our communities and packed with tips to help keep you, your family, and property safe during a storm.
Cathie Perkins, Director, Pinellas County Emergency Management:
Know your risk:
First and foremost, it is important that people know if they are in a home or area that could be asked to evacuate for a storm. This information can be found on our Know Your Zone website, or people can use the Ready Pinellas app to see if their home is in a designated evacuation zone.
Some people don’t know this, but all mobile and manufactured homes must evacuate if any level of evacuation is ordered, no matter where in the county you live.
Also, people who rely upon life-sustaining medical equipment should consider themselves at high risk for every storm unless they have a dedicated back-up power source and live outside of an evacuation area. They can register for our Special Needs program online by downloading an application or requesting one by mail.
What is new this year is that we will be looking more closely at each specific storm: what direction it’s moving, how much water we expect it will push onto land, and the geography of our peninsula. This will allow us to make a better-informed and more targeted evacuation decision.
In short, if we tell a specific area to evacuate, it’s because all of our data suggests it’s necessary. This might also help us reduce the number of people that have to be evacuated.
Everybody must understand that every storm is different, and we have to look at all of the potential impacts for each one. We also want residents to understand when it’s okay to stay in place.
We use the term “shadow evacuations,” to describe people who evacuate even though they are not in evacuation zones.
Remember, mobile and manufactured homes always have to evacuate if one is ordered, but if you live in a traditional home, make sure you know your structure’s date of construction, type of construction and/or if it has been mitigated to withstand winds. We want those at risk due to high winds (mobile/manufactured homes/electric dependent), and those that are at risk due to surge, to evacuate. Those that are not at risk should shelter in place.
We also consider non-residential buildings, primarily our critical facilities like hospitals, infrastructure, and emergency services. We are also looking at the finished floor elevations of critical facilities to help them evaluate their risk for storm surge.
Make a Plan:
Every year we encourage people to have plans in place for if they have to evacuate or if they shelter at home. We also ask that everyone have the supplies they need for the storm and to be self-sufficient for seven days.
We have a guidance list in our hurricane guide and online.
If you do have to evacuate, we encourage people to stay with family or friends or stay in hotels or motels outside of evacuation areas if they can, and then as a last resort, consider public shelters.
This year we encourage businesses or other entities that have appropriate sites that can be used as shelters, to consider offering that for the employees or congregants. The more spaces we have, the easier it will be for people requiring shelters to maintain social distancing.
If you have special needs and may require assistance with evacuations, we ask that you register with us in advance so we can make appropriate plans. We may need to increase the number of buses or increase our evacuation clearance times to help get people out of the evacuation areas before the conditions deteriorate.
Whether you are in an evacuation zone or not, we recommend that you add a few additional items as you assemble your hurricane kits this year: hand sanitizer and wipes (if possible) and masks for each member of your family.
You want to protect yourself whether you’re in a shelter, a line for sandbags, or if you’re able to open up your home to others in need.
Here are some useful links:
Alert Pinellas Sign-Up Page: https://www.pcsoweb.com/alert-pinellas
Special Needs registration page: http://www.pinellascounty.org/emergency/specialneeds.htm
Download the Ready Pinellas app (android and iOS): http://www.pinellascounty.org/readypinellas/
Paul Womble, Emergency Management Director:
Polk County does not have Hurricane Evacuation Zones. We evacuate for two things:
- Wind: manufactured homes, mobile homes, RVs, and homes that can be impacted by strong winds.
- Flooding Rain: Low lying areas or areas that historically flood
Shelters have always been the last recommendation for our citizens.
If they have to evacuate for these two reasons, their disaster plan should be to go stay with family members, friends, or church members who do not have to evacuate.
How will you handle evacuations from other parts of Florida and COVID-19?
Based on our hurricane shelter demand benchmarks established in Hurricane Irma, around 10,000 people in shelters, and 1,369 in our Special Need Shelters, our existing shelter capacity more than meets those benchmarks while still allowing for COVID-19 measures.
Follow Polk County's official website and social media for updates and information. https://www.polk-county.net