St. Petersburg Hurricane Evacuation Zones

A St. Petersburg evacuation zone is found by address in the Pinellas County zone lookup, the Ready Pinellas app, the city Prepare, St. Pete map, or a Pinellas landline call to (727) 453-3150.

Pinellas County lists four ways to look up a zone: the online county lookup, the Ready Pinellas mobile app for Android and iOS, the automated line at (727) 453-3150, which works only from Pinellas County landline phones, and the utility bill of Pinellas County utility customers (Pinellas County storm surge page). The City of St. Petersburg puts the same zones on its Prepare, St. Pete interactive map, where evacuation zones sit beside the city Stormwater Floodplain, the FEMA flood zones and active crane radii, and the city states that much of St. Pete lies in evacuation zones (City of St. Petersburg Hurricane Center). The FDEM zone lookup offers a statewide address search of colored evacuation zones (Florida Division of Emergency Management).

A zone result on the Pinellas County Flood Map Service is not the FEMA flood zone, and a nearby stream or pond can put a St. Petersburg home that sits in a non-evacuation zone inside a flood zone (Pinellas County Flood Map Service). The zone matters before a storm, because an evacuation order in Pinellas County names zones by letter, and only residents who know their letter can tell whether an order covers them (Pinellas County evacuation page). Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the Pinellas County Emergency Management pages and the City of St. Petersburg Hurricane Center.

Pinellas County zones A through E rank St. Petersburg land by modeled storm surge, with Zone A generally the first evacuated and non-evacuation areas returning no surge depth at any level.

The evacuation zones are marked from A through E, plus non-evacuation zones, and come from National Hurricane Center surge zones built from ground elevation and vulnerability to surge (Pinellas County flood maps and zones). The county surge tool subtracts LiDAR ground elevation from the National Hurricane Center SLOSH model to give an above-ground surge depth for each parcel, and a parcel in level A is exposed to surge from level A through E (Pinellas County storm surge map). The same page explains that properties on barrier islands connected to the mainland by a bridge are all considered Level A because of the risk to the bridge and of residents being cut off, even when no surge shows on the parcel. Emergency Management answers questions about a parcel result at 727-464-5550.

A statewide wrinkle confuses some newcomers to St. Petersburg: the FDEM lookup labels Florida zones A to F and calls Zone F the likeliest to leave last, though its own map instructions name Zone E as last; Pinellas County uses only A through E (FDEM; Pinellas County). For a Pinellas address the county letter is the one that evacuation orders use.

Pinellas County Emergency Management orders St. Petersburg evacuations by zone letter, and a mandatory order always includes every mobile and manufactured home in the county.

The county issues two kinds of orders. A recommended evacuation may ask residents of mobile homes and areas that flood often to move to higher ground when a storm crosses the state and exits over Pinellas; a mandatory evacuation is issued when surge probability is high, is ordered up to a certain letter zone and will always include mobile homes (Pinellas County Flood Map Service evacuation zones). Residents of mobile homes, manufactured homes and recreational vehicles must always evacuate no matter where in Pinellas County they live, and residents dependent on electricity must always evacuate for all category hurricanes (Pinellas County storm surge page).

The most recent large order shows how this reached St. Petersburg. On October 7, 2024, Pinellas County ordered a mandatory evacuation for residents within Evacuation Zones A, B and C, to begin at 3:00 p.m., as Hurricane Milton approached; the order was issued pursuant to Resolution No. 24-68, the county's local state of emergency declaration (Pinellas County evacuation order). The City of St. Petersburg told residents the same day that the orders covered zones A, B and C and all mobile homes, and that Milton carried a potential storm surge of 10 to 15 feet (City of St. Petersburg Milton update #3). Pinellas also ordered a level A and mobile home evacuation for Hurricane Idalia in 2023 (Pinellas County evacuation page).

Timing is the part the county stresses most for St. Petersburg evacuees: residents must be out of the evacuation areas before winds or surge arrive, buses stop several hours before dangerous winds, and evacuees do not have to go far, only outside the area ordered to evacuate, while those going further have an easier drive by leaving earlier (Pinellas County evacuation page).

St. Petersburg evacuees can stay with friends or at a hotel outside the ordered zones, leave the area, or use a Pinellas County shelter, and pet-friendly shelters accept household pets.

Pinellas County opens three public shelter types during a mandatory evacuation. General population shelters are open to everyone and provide meals but little other help, and cots are not provided. Pet-friendly shelters are general shelters with a separate area for household pets, open to people without pets as well. Special needs shelters, staffed by nurses from the Florida Department of Health, have generator power, oxygen and a limited number of cots (Pinellas County Special Needs Evacuation Program). Not every shelter opens for every storm, so the county updates shelter status regularly once an evacuation is ordered and warns against assuming a shelter used before will open again (Pinellas County emergency shelters). During Milton the city announced a pet-friendly shelter at Gibbs High School for evacuating St. Pete residents and asked people staying at a shelter to bring their own supplies, including food, water and personal items (City of St. Petersburg).

Getting there without a car is possible. The county says Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) keeps most regular routes running during evacuations with free rides to shelters; pets may board if cats and small dogs are crated and large dogs wear a muzzle leash, and PSTA service may end several hours ahead of dangerous conditions (Pinellas County evacuation page). The county also warns that owners ordered out should never stay home because of pets.

St. Petersburg residents with medical needs or no way to reach a shelter register in advance with the Pinellas County Special Needs Evacuation Program, which then provides a ride to an assigned shelter.

Eligibility covers residents of all ages who rely on supplemental oxygen or an electrically powered life-sustaining device, need help with medications, depend on dialysis, have a diagnosis of memory impairment, or have no vehicle or other way to a shelter; nursing home and assisted living residents are not eligible because those facilities keep their own plans (Pinellas County Special Needs Evacuation Program). Registration is open all year online, by calling Pinellas County Emergency Management at (727) 464-3800 for a mailed form, or by mailing a form to 10750 Ulmerton Road, Building 1, Suite 267, Largo, FL 33778, or faxing it to (727) 464-4024. Each year Emergency Management and the local fire department contact every registrant, and people who do not answer after several attempts are removed.

When told to evacuate, registrants and their emergency contacts get a phone call, text and email asking whether a ride to a shelter is needed. For most people a school bus with a firefighter on board makes the pickup, wheelchair-accessible buses are available, and the county decides the shelter type, so a specific location cannot be chosen (Pinellas County). The City of St. Petersburg Hurricane Center describes an Evacuation Assistance Program with its own registration number, 727-551-3822, and names a special needs shelter at John Hopkins Middle School, 701 16th St. S. (City of St. Petersburg Hurricane Center). The two pages differ: the county registers through (727) 464-3800 and says a specific shelter cannot be chosen, while the city page names one school, so the county assignment for each storm decides where a registrant goes.

The 2024 storms showed low evacuation compliance in Pinellas County for Hurricane Helene and better compliance for Hurricane Milton, when twelve shelters held 11,942 people against 1,946 in six shelters for Helene.

The county after-action overview reports that first responders in evacuation zones found compliance low for Helene, that the Milton evacuation was more successful with fewer people observed in the zones, and that some residents later said they did not understand that transportation help was available (Pinellas County 2024 after-action overview). Alert Pinellas carried 171 public notifications, and the County Information Center, activated for 82 days, received 36,137 calls and 10,489 live chat inquiries, and before storm impacts the main call topics were Special Needs Evacuation Program registration, sandbags, public shelter openings and whether a household needed to evacuate.

Several changes affect the next St. Petersburg evacuation. The county is working with the University of South Florida on a behavioral study of evacuation decisions, plans more messaging on the special needs program and free PSTA rides, and reports that Visit St. Pete-Clearwater built a booking engine that does not show hotels in evacuation zones (Pinellas County Emergency Management). During an activation the County Information Center number is (727) 464-4333, and the city lists St. Petersburg Emergency Management at 727-892-5200 (City of St. Petersburg).