Fort Lauderdale Safety and Emergency Preparedness Guide

Fort Lauderdale residents get city emergency warnings through Alert FTL, a free notification service that sends messages by phone, email and text (City of Fort Lauderdale).

Alert FTL runs on the Everbridge platform and works with TDD/TTY devices for Fort Lauderdale neighbors who are deaf or hard of hearing (Alert FTL). A rule that catches many Fort Lauderdale households: the Federal Communications Commission bars Alert FTL from calling a cell phone except in life safety emergencies, so households that use only cell phones should register those numbers manually to make sure notifications arrive (Alert FTL). Calls from Alert FTL show the Neighbor Service Center number, 954-828-8000, and the city suggests adding that number to a phone's safe list so a privacy lock feature does not block it (Alert FTL).

Before and after a storm, the City of Fort Lauderdale also posts updates on its website, on FLTV (Comcast channel 78 or AT&T U-verse channel 99) and through the FixIt FTL app, and it staffs the Neighbor Service Center around the clock at 954-828-8000 (City of Fort Lauderdale hurricane page). The same page asks Fort Lauderdale households to keep enough emergency supplies for at least three days (72 hours) (City of Fort Lauderdale).

Both do: the City of Fort Lauderdale runs its own Emergency Operations Center through a Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue bureau, and the city page points residents to Broward County's own Emergency Management Bureau for county information (City of Fort Lauderdale).

The city office is the Domestic Preparedness and Emergency Management Bureau, which keeps the City of Fort Lauderdale Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan written to meet Chapter 252 of the Florida Statutes (City of Fort Lauderdale). The bureau works from 2200 Executive Airport Way, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309, and answers at 954-828-6700 (City of Fort Lauderdale). Its Emergency Operations Center has three levels: Level 3 monitoring is the normal state, Level 2 is a partial activation for a significant threat, and Level 1 is a full activation run on a 24-hour schedule (City of Fort Lauderdale).

Broward County government is based in the same city, at the Broward County Governmental Center, 115 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301, and its general help line is 311 (Broward County). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the City of Fort Lauderdale website and the Broward County website.

A Fort Lauderdale address can be checked on the state evacuation zone map, where the evacuation zones are flood zones and Zone A is typically the most vulnerable and most likely to evacuate first (Florida Division of Emergency Management).

The Florida Division of Emergency Management adds that when no evacuation order is issued for an area and a house is not in an evacuation zone, residents may consider sheltering in place (Florida Division of Emergency Management). The City of Fort Lauderdale hurricane page links the Broward County Emergency Evacuation Information and the Broward County Emergency Evacuation Map (City of Fort Lauderdale).

Broward County publishes its shelter list on its official hurricane site with each location's status and pet policy; on October 15, 2026 it listed 35 locations, all closed, and the Fort Lauderdale entry, Arthur Ashe/Rock Island at Atlantic Technical College, was marked no pets allowed (Broward County). The same list marks some locations in other cities as pet friendly, such as Lyons Creek Middle School in Coconut Creek, so Fort Lauderdale pet owners should check that column before a storm (Broward County). The county also describes a Special Needs Shelter for residents whose medical condition needs more support than a general population shelter, and a Vulnerable Population Registry that municipalities can use to evaluate resident needs and plan a response (Broward County).

Flooding is a citywide concern: the city says a majority of Fort Lauderdale residents live in or close to a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area (City of Fort Lauderdale flood page).

The city names the water that drives Fort Lauderdale flooding: the New River Canal, Middle River, the C-13 East and C-12 canals, the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean, which can rise with a hurricane, a rainstorm, a high tide or storm surge (City of Fort Lauderdale).

Fort Lauderdale property owners can look up a flood zone on the Flood Insurance Rate Map in the city's online GIS application, on the Broward FEMA Flood Map or by calling 954-828-6133 (City of Fort Lauderdale). The city notes that flooding is not covered by most homeowners insurance policies, and that its participation in the Community Rating System currently gives Fort Lauderdale residents a 20 percent discount on National Flood Insurance Program premiums (City of Fort Lauderdale). Flood, sewer and drainage problems and clogged storm drains go to the Neighbor Service Center at 954-828-8000, and downed power lines go to FPL at 800-4-OUTAGE (City of Fort Lauderdale).

One caution on the Fort Lauderdale flood page: it still gives August 18, 2014 as the date new FEMA FIRMs took effect, describes 2018 as a mild storm season and links a 2019 Flood Guide and a 2014 Local Mitigation Strategy progress report, so the current flood map lookup, not that text, is the place to confirm the zone for a specific lot (City of Fort Lauderdale). Fort Lauderdale hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 (City of Fort Lauderdale).

Sinkhole questions about a Fort Lauderdale property go to the state, not the city: the Florida Department of Environmental Protection does not inspect possible sinkholes, and the Florida Geological Survey answers questions on its Sinkhole Helpline at 850-245-2118 (Florida DEP).

Emergencies in Fort Lauderdale go to 9-1-1; the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue department contact line is 954-828-6800 and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department non-emergency line is (954) 764-4357 (Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue; FLPD).

Established in 1912, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue today provides fire rescue and emergency management services to the City of Fort Lauderdale, the City of Wilton Manors and the Town of Lazy Lake (Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue). Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue works from 12 fire stations, responds to more than 55,000 calls for service a year, and works with neighboring agencies through closest unit response to send the nearest appropriate emergency resource (Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue). Its special teams cover hazardous materials, technical rescue, dive rescue, marine rescue, SWAT medical support and aircraft rescue and firefighting (Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue).

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department lists its contact address as 1300 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312, with a front desk line of (954) 828-5700 (Fort Lauderdale Police Department). Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue lists its address as 528 NW 2nd St, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311 (Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue).

Three Fort Lauderdale safety guides go deeper than this hub: the flood risk zones guide, the hurricane evacuation zones guide and the sinkhole risk areas guide.

The Fort Lauderdale flood risk zones guide covers FEMA maps and the Fortify Lauderdale stormwater program, the hurricane evacuation zones guide covers how Broward County orders evacuations, and the sinkhole risk areas guide covers the karst geology, subsidence and groundwater under Fort Lauderdale.