Hurricane Evacuation Planning for Tampa Bay Homes

When it comes to dealing with disasters like major hurricanes, preparation is key. Before a Cat 3 or stronger storm appears on the forecast, you should already have a hurricane evacuation plan in place and know how to act on it.

This is important because trying to come up with a plan on the spot, even if you know the basic strategies and tools you’ll need, can mean a delayed response and missing critical steps of your evacuation prep.

The longer it takes you to get moving in response to a big storm, the higher the risk that you and your family might get bogged down in traffic.

But, how should you go about creating an evacuation plan? What should you do to ensure that you can leave quickly and prepare for heavy traffic as others evacuate ahead of a storm as well?

Let’s go over some hurricane evacuation planning basics and tips to help you keep your family safe if you’re faced with a mandatory evacuation order:

Hurricane Evacuation Planning Step 1: Find Your Evacuation Zone

Not all homes in all areas of Florida are at the same level of risk in the face of a major hurricane. That’s why each county of Florida divides regions up by risk level and issues evacuation orders based on that risk assessment.

Tools like the Know Your Zone map can be invaluable for getting up-to-date information about your home’s evacuation zone designation. 

It’s important to check this tool again each year, as municipalities may change assigned evacuation zones for specific areas as hurricane risks change. For example, an area that was a Zone C designation one year might become Zone B or D the next year. Re-checking the zone map can help you stay informed just in case your evacuation zone has changed from previous years.

Hurricane Evacuation Planning Step 2: Learn Local Roadways

For any evacuation, knowledge of your local roadways is a must. While GPS is a wonderful technology, it may not be reliable during a massive storm, and it may not always account for issues like some roadways being two feet underwater already (that can happen even without a hurricane if local water drainage systems are overloaded or blocked).

Tampa residents might assume that it’s as easy as hopping on I-275 Northbound or I-4 Eastbound and driving until you’re out of the hurricane’s projected path. However, major highways have a tendency to become massively congested during an emergency. 

Because of this, it’s important to familiarize yourself with local roadways ahead of time and really get to know them: which roads have dips that could let water pool deeply, which ones connect to major roadways and which ones dead end in a subdivision, and where you can find gas stations or designated rest areas along the evacuation path.

The more you know your local roadways, the easier it will be to reroute during an evacuation without having to fight your GPS system.

As a corollary to this step, when a hurricane is approaching, check its projected path to identify which roadways will most efficiently bring you and your family out of that path. 

For example, if a hurricane is coming from the west and moving east, fleeing along I-4 probably isn’t the best plan. It’s a bit like the ending of Prometheus where the survivors were running in a straight line ahead of the rolling spaceship when running to either side would have been faster, easier, and safer.

Hurricane Evacuation Planning Step 3: Choose a Destination

An important part of any evacuation plan is choosing a destination. You can’t plan a route without a destination!

Before a hurricane hits, be sure to compile a list of potential destinations like: 

• Friends/Relatives’ Homes. Try to make plans ahead of time with friends and/or family to stay with them for the duration of a major emergency.
• Emergency Shelters. Emergency shelters are often a good last resort for homeowners who cannot find accommodation elsewhere.
• Rest Stops. Some roadways (like I-75) have designated rest stops where you can park your car and have access to a public restroom in a sturdy building. However, capacity at these locations is limited on normal days.
• Hotels/Motels. Many homeowners flock to hotels and motels in safe areas for a semblance of comfort during a storm. As such, these locations tend to fill up quickly during a major storm.

Any safe place that you can easily get to could be a good place to include in the list.

Check your destination against the evacuation zone maps to see if it would need to be evacuated as well, and be prepared to have to change your plans according to the projected path of any storm.

The reason you want to pick multiple evacuation destinations is that you never know which direction the next storm will be coming from and where it will go once it makes landfall. A destination that would be safe from a storm rolling west-to-east might not be safe from a storm heading northeast.

The less driving you have to do to get to a safe place out of a hurricane’s path, the better.

Hurricane Evacuation Planning Step 4: Build an Evacuation Kit

If you decide to evacuate, it’s important to be able to move quickly once your decision is made. Delays to assemble the bare necessities on your way out the door can put you behind the pack, leaving you stuck in traffic regardless of how well you know the roads around your home.

So, it can help to create an evacuation kit with all of the essentials that you can pick up and take with you on your way out the door. If you have a kit ready to go, you don’t have to waste time picking out important evacuation supplies like:

• Non-Perishable, Ready to Eat Food. You may not have access to a kitchen for a while, so it can be a good idea to pack some easy-to-prepare foodstuffs in your emergency kit like canned food or other foods that are shelf-stable and don’t require cooking.
• Clothing. Bring a few changes of clothes for each member of your family so you all can have something clean to wear just in case you cannot find an operational laundromat or other means of cleaning your clothes. Matching colors and designs can help make your family easier to identify in case you get separated.
• Water. At least one gallon of water per person for a minimum of three days. Preferably in sealed bottles.
• Medical Supplies. Bandages, important medications, antiseptic wipes, and other first aid or critical medical supplies should be packed in a sterile box.
• Car Repair Tools. Bring some basic tools for emergency roadside repairs, like a carjack, tire iron, spare tire, etc. It can also help to top off your gas tank as soon as you see an announcement about a hurricane on the news, just in case.
• Communication Methods. When a storm hits, cellular service could become unreliable. So, in addition to your cell phone, it’s important to prepare other communication methods so you can reach authorities. For example, ham radio systems can often let you listen to emergency radio broadcasts and communicate with first responders if you get stuck during your evacuation.

This is far from a comprehensive list of evacuation kit supplies. But, it should be enough for any “grab and go” kit that you can prepare well ahead of time and take with you in a hurry.

Hurricane Evacuation Planning Step 5: Prepare Your Home

Although you may be leaving your home for your own safety because of a storm, that doesn’t mean you’re writing your home off just yet. Once the storm passes, you’ll want to come back and get back to normal as soon as possible.

With this in mind, it’s important to prepare your home for hurricanes so that it’s more likely to remain intact and undamaged in the face of a major storm.

There are several things you can do to proactively protect your home from harm when hurricanes hit:

• Turn Off Utilities. On your way out the door, it can help to shut off utilities like water, gas, and electricity to prevent leaks and shorts when a hurricane rolls through the area. So, learning where you can disable these utilities can be an important part of your evacuation plan.
• Move Electronics and Water-Absorbent Furniture Off the Ground. Take an inventory of your home’s electronics on the ground floor as well as any furniture you have that might absorb and retain water in case of a house flood. Move these items to a higher floor, if available. If in a single-story home, try to move electronics off the floor as much as possible.
• Double-Check Your Doors and Windows Are Sealed. Go around the house before leaving and verify that each window and door is fully shut and locked to keep your home sealed against the storm… and other hazards. Make sure to include a final check of your home’s windows and doors in your evacuation plan.
• Police the Yard. Remove lawn furniture and pack it where the wind cannot catch it and throw it around to protect your home from the closest source of flying debris.

These are a few of the things to include in your evacuation plan checklist for when you’re getting ready to leave.

However, there’s another thing you can do well before a storm hits to protect your home far more effectively.

Prepare Your Home for Hurricanes with Impact Windows!

Before a storm even forms, one of the best things you can do to protect your home from it is to ensure that every opening of your home is protected against severe wind and flying debris with impact-rated windows and doors!

Impact windows are built to withstand the worst conditions that Mother Nature can bring to bear on your home, helping minimize the risk of a window getting breached by heavy wind pressure or flying storm debris. 

Does you home have the right windows to protect it from hurricane-force winds and storm surge? Find out by requesting a free home window inspection and consultation with an expert from Karoly Windows & Doors!