Hurricane Evacuation Zones in Melbourne, Florida

The City of Melbourne sends residents to the Florida Division of Emergency Management evacuation zone lookup map, where an address lookup shows whether a home sits in one of Brevard County's lettered evacuation zones (City of Melbourne).

FDEM describes the colored areas on that map as evacuation zones that are also flood zones, and says that when a home is inside one, the instruction to follow is the evacuation order from local officials (FDEM zone lookup page). For Melbourne, those officials are at Brevard County Emergency Management, which the city names as the agency that posts storm-specific shelter information (City of Melbourne shelters). The city's own Hurricane Preparation page points to that FDEM map for anyone unsure whether a home is in an evacuation zone.

The state data behind the map shows Brevard County divided into five zones, recorded as BREVARD A, BREVARD B, BREVARD C, BREVARD D and BREVARD E (FDEM zone data). Every one of those Brevard records carries an Edit_Date of 7/17/2013, while the layer that serves them is named Evacuation Zones 20260724 in its own metadata (FDEM zone layer). In other words, the layer a Melbourne resident queries carries a 2026 date in its name, but the date it records for every Brevard zone is July 17, 2013; the file does not say whether the boundaries themselves have been reviewed since.

A zone letter is not the only trigger in Melbourne. In a hurricane or strong tropical storm, the city says, people living on a barrier island, in a low-lying area, or in a mobile or manufactured home have a good chance of needing to heed a mandatory evacuation notice (City of Melbourne), and the same page tells residents never to ride out a hurricane in a mobile or manufactured home, even one that is not in an evacuation zone.

Melbourne residents east of the Indian River Lagoon, which the city defines as the barrier island, are inside the mandatory evacuation zone, and the city says mobile and manufactured homes and low-lying areas are likely to face mandatory evacuation too (City of Melbourne).

The barrier island part of the list covers more than the beach towns. Seven communities appear on the Melbourne page's barrier island list (Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic, Melbourne Beach, Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach), and the page places a portion of the City of Melbourne itself there too (City of Melbourne). The reason is storm surge: the city calls it often the greatest threat to life and property from a hurricane along the coast, and says barrier island communities are particularly at risk of dangerous flooding due to storm surge.

FDEM's own page is not consistent about the last zone. Its lookup instructions say typically Zone A is most likely to evacuate first and Zone E is most likely to evacuate last, while its FAQ on the same page says evacuation zones are designated from A to F, with Zone F most likely to be evacuated last (FDEM zone lookup page). The state data resolves the question for Brevard only: it lists five Brevard zones, A through E, and no Brevard Zone F (FDEM zone data), so for a Melbourne address Zone E is the highest letter that can apply.

The City of Melbourne says causeways will not be closed before a storm arrives, but driving them becomes unsafe once tropical-storm-force winds, typically 45 miles per hour sustained, set in (City of Melbourne).

That wording matters most for barrier island households in Melbourne, Indialantic and Melbourne Beach, whose route to the mainland crosses the Indian River Lagoon. The city promises every opportunity to evacuate before a storm and says that once high winds arrive, residents will be encouraged to stay sheltered for the duration (City of Melbourne). The practical reading is that the open causeway has a deadline set by the wind, not by a gate.

The Melbourne FAQ adds advice about the drive itself: evacuate early, travel tens of miles rather than hundreds, and shelter locally; elsewhere it notes that for a hurricane there might be a day or two to get ready (City of Melbourne FAQ). FDEM gives the same distance advice and suggests a destination nearest to home, preferably in the same county (FDEM evacuation plan).

The City of Melbourne says shelter locations and opening times are specific to each storm and posted on the Brevard County Emergency Management website (City of Melbourne shelters).

Brevard County opens three kinds of shelters across the county, according to the Melbourne shelter page: general population, pet-friendly and special needs (City of Melbourne shelters). Special needs shelters require registration in advance, are assigned to specific clients so that supplies and staff match the need, and the county may be able to help with transportation to one. During a storm, the Melbourne FAQ points to the Community Information Hotline, 2-1-1, for the list of open shelters (City of Melbourne FAQ).

FDEM frames a public shelter as the last resort for Melbourne and every other Florida community (FDEM evacuation plan). Its evacuation plan page suggests staying first with friends or family whose home is outside an evacuation zone and can handle wind and rain, notes that hotel vacancies get harder to find the longer a household waits, and says shelters are not designed for comfort and do not usually accept pets. In Brevard, the pet-friendly shelters named on the Melbourne page are the option for households that cannot leave an animal behind.

A mainland Melbourne household outside an evacuation zone, with no order issued for its area, may consider sheltering in place, FDEM says, after checking that the home can withstand strong winds and heavy rain (FDEM zone lookup page).

The City of Melbourne adds two cautions (City of Melbourne). Widespread damage and loss of utilities are possible everywhere, and anyone deciding whether to leave should not look only at the forecast track, because a large storm's effects reach many miles beyond it. Those outside a mandatory zone may still choose to leave. Housing type is the exception. The city says never to stay in a mobile or manufactured home through a hurricane, even one outside an evacuation zone, noting that these homes face the largest risk of damage from high winds; it also reminds owners that Florida law requires every mobile home to be anchored.

Staying put in Melbourne still carries chores the city lists in its FAQ (City of Melbourne FAQ). Residents may be asked to limit water use before, during and after a storm to keep wastewater systems from backing up into homes, and a Precautionary Boil Water Notice is possible once service is restored. The FAQ also recalls that during Tropical Storm Fay an entire neighborhood flooded after a trash can lid washed into an inlet and blocked the stormwater pipe, and it asks residents to bring trash cans, yard decor, toys, sports equipment and lawn furniture inside.

The City of Melbourne Storm Updates page carries changes to city services, roads, water distribution and facilities whenever a tropical storm or hurricane is forecast for the area (City of Melbourne Storm Updates).

The city lists hurricane season as June 1 through November 30 each year and encourages residents and businesses to prepare for it (City of Melbourne Storm Updates). After a storm passes, the FAQ says city crews start preliminary damage assessments, including the water distribution system, as soon as conditions are safe, and residents will be urged to stay off roads until public safety officials clear travel (City of Melbourne FAQ).

One stale detail on the Melbourne Hurricane Preparation page: in its mandatory evacuation section it says a portion of the City of Melbourne is on the barrier island as well as Patrick Air Force Base and unincorporated Brevard County (City of Melbourne). The installation's own site now uses the name Patrick Space Force Base, where Space Launch Delta 45 is headquartered (Patrick Space Force Base). The place is the same; the name on the city page is out of date. Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the City of Melbourne storm pages and FDEM's zone lookup page and zone data.