Florida Porch

Hurricane season

Do the calm work before the storm has a name.

Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30. In Florida, the useful question is closer to home: Is your zone, house, supply shelf, and alert plan ready?

First answer

Start with your place, not the whole map.

A forecast cone can get your attention. Local choices come from local risk: storm surge zone, flood-prone roads, house type, medical needs, pets, transportation, and county orders.

Zone

Know whether you may be told to leave

Evacuation zones are local emergency planning tools, especially for storm surge. Find your zone before a storm is close enough to make everyone search at once.

Know Your Zone, Know Your Home

Home

Be honest about where you are riding it out

A newer inland house, a mobile home, a flood-prone street, and a condo near the water are not the same plan. The right answer depends on the home, not just the county.

Florida Disaster home planning

Supplies

Build for about a week, not one uncomfortable night

Florida Disaster encourages at least seven days of supplies. Think water, food, medicine, batteries, pet needs, cash, and the things your household actually uses.

Preparing for hurricane season

Alerts

Pick your trusted sources before the feed gets noisy

Use NHC for tropical cyclone information, NWS for watches and warnings, and your county emergency management office for local evacuation orders and shelters.

National Hurricane Center

Before a system is close

Do the slow work early: supplies, documents, window protection, prescriptions, county alerts, and a place to go if your zone is ordered out.

When a watch or warning appears

Shift from planning to action. Check NHC and NWS, listen to county officials, and leave early if your area is ordered to evacuate.

After the storm passes

Wait for local all-clear messages, avoid flooded roads and downed wires, and keep generators outside. The danger is not always over when the wind calms down.

Small but important

A few storm rules are worth saying plainly.

A weak-looking season can still send one bad storm to your part of Florida. A strong season can miss you. Seasonal outlooks are not your household plan.

Watches and warnings are not trivia. They are a sign to check NHC, NWS, and your county before roads, stores, and shelters get crowded.

Evacuation is mostly about getting away from water and unsafe structures, not proving your house is tough. If local officials order your zone out, leave early if you can.

Afterward, generators stay outside, flooded roads stay off-limits, and local officials decide when it is safe to return or move around.

Check NHC Find county emergency management

Related tools

Put the storm pieces where you can find them.

The season plan is easier when documents, evacuation bags, insurance questions, and flood checks are not scattered across the house.

Disaster document binder Evacuation packing planner Flood insurance planner Home insurance and wind

Official checks

Sources used for this page

Last checked June 29, 2026. During an active storm, use current NHC, NWS, Florida Disaster, and county emergency management information before you act.

Keep going

Nearby outdoor checks

Back to outdoors
Weather and Outdoor Hazards. Heat, lightning, water, smoke, algae, floodwater, and the outdoor checks around storms.Beaches. Beach access, rip currents, water advisories, wildlife, and local closures.Scenic Drives. Road conditions, evacuation orders, bridges, rest stops, pull-offs, and storm-season drive checks.

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