Evacuate or Stay?
The decision to evacuate is not about the storm's category. It is about your evacuation zone, your home's construction, and whether you can survive without power for a week. Most hurricane deaths are from water, not wind, so the first question is always whether you are in a surge zone.
If your county orders your zone to evacuate, leave. The order is based on storm surge modeling, not on wind. If you are outside the ordered zone and your home is well built, sheltering in place is usually the right call, because every car on the road is one fewer spot for someone who has to leave.
When you should evacuate
- You are in an ordered evacuation zone, especially Zone A.
- You live in a mobile home or manufactured housing, regardless of zone. These cannot survive hurricane winds.
- You rely on electric medical equipment and cannot run it on a generator for days.
- Your home has flooded before, even outside a mapped zone.
When sheltering in place makes sense
- You are outside all ordered zones and your home is built to current code with shutters or impact windows.
- You have supplies for at least 7 days, including water, food, fuel, and medications.
- You are not in a surge zone and your elevation is above the forecast surge height.
Find your zone
Every coastal state has a zone lookup. Find yours before a storm is forecast, because the sites slow down under heavy traffic during an event.