Do you know your hurricane evacuation level? Here’s how to find out and make a plan
Hurricane Dorian’s sights are set on the east coast of Florida, where it could make landfall as a Category 4 storm by Tuesday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued a state of emergency for all of Florida and advised residents to prepare for the storm’s impact. Manatee County leaders issued a local state of emergency on Friday.
An essential part of hurricane preparation is knowing your evacuation level.
Manatee County Emergency Management offers an interactive map that allows residents to check on evacuation levels of a home or business and potential evacuation routes in case a departure is necessary.
“Hurricane evacuation levels are based on hypothetical storm scenarios, factoring in atmospheric pressure, size, speed, and track to determine the potential storm surge for the location,” Manatee County Emergency Management says.
Levels are classified using letters A through E — Level A being the most vulnerable to storm surge and first ordered to evacuate and Level E being the least vulnerable and last ordered to evacuate.
Level A evacuation orders are issued when potential storm surge reaches 11 feet, Level B at 14 feet, Level C at 18 feet, Level D at 27 feet and Level E at 33 feet.
Some areas of the county are in non-evacuation zones, so unless officials say otherwise it will be unnecessary to evacuate.
Residents and visitors in mobile homes, manufactured homes, RVs and travel trailers will be ordered to evacuate when a hurricane evacuation Level A is issued — regardless of where the dwelling is located.
The levels are based on the potential height of salt water storm surge only and do not factor in freshwater and rainfall flooding.
The color-coded map of Manatee County allows users to input a specific address and find out its evacuation level.
Other handy features include sandbag pickup locations, shelter locations and road closures.
No evacuations had been ordered as of Friday morning.
With several months to go until the end of the Atlantic hurricane season on Nov. 30, it’s always a good idea to make sure you know your evacuation level and check potential escape routes.
Visit mymanatee.org/departments/public_safety/emergency_management/evacuation_levels to check your evacuation level, or call Emergency Management at 941-749-3500 for help.
Residents can also sign up for Manatee County emergency notifications by creating a CodeRED account online.
This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 8:19 AM with the headline "Do you know your hurricane evacuation level? Here’s how to find out and make a plan ."