Tampa Safety and Emergency Guide

Four Tampa safety guides sit under this hub: hurricane evacuation zones, emergency services, flood risk zones and sinkhole risk areas.

This Tampa hub answers the first question in each area and points to the guide that goes further. The evacuation zones guide covers the zone map and storm surge for Tampa neighborhoods; the emergency services guide covers Tampa Fire Rescue, the Tampa Police Department and the 911 system; the flood risk zones guide covers FEMA flood maps and floodplain rules in the City of Tampa; and the sinkhole risk areas guide covers the karst geology under Hillsborough County. Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the Hillsborough County, City of Tampa, FEMA and Florida Geological Survey websites.

Tampa residents look up their zone in the Hillsborough County Hurricane Evacuation Assessment Tool (HEAT), which shows whether an address is in one of five evacuation zones, A through E (Hillsborough County).

The Hillsborough County HEAT map can be searched by address, owner name or parcel, and the county colors the zones red for Zone A, orange for Zone B, yellow for Zone C, green for Zone D and purple for Zone E (Hillsborough County evacuation information). Printable zone maps for Tampa and the rest of Hillsborough County are posted in English and Spanish on the same page.

The county now publishes separate 2026 zone maps. Hillsborough County posts its 2025 and 2026 evacuation zone maps side by side, with separate before and after comparisons for Thonotosassa, Apollo Beach and Town 'N Country; the county page was last modified on July 1, 2026 (Hillsborough County). A Tampa household that learned its zone before the 2026 season should check HEAT again rather than rely on an old printout.

Getting out without a car is planned too: HART provides free emergency evacuation bus service for people who need transportation to shelters (Hillsborough County). The county also takes registrations for special needs disaster assistance, and its Office of Emergency Management answers at (813) 272-6600 (Hillsborough County Emergency Management). The Tampa hurricane evacuation zones guide covers storm surge by neighborhood.

Tampa residents can sign up for two alert systems: HCFL Alert, Hillsborough County's official mass notification system, and Alert Tampa, run by the City of Tampa Office of Emergency Management (Hillsborough County; City of Tampa).

HCFL Alert sends real-time notice of when Hillsborough County evacuation zones are called and when residents have to go, and a Spanish version, Alerta HCFL, is linked from the same page (Hillsborough County). Alert Tampa works by text message: text TAMPAREADY to 888-777, or TAMPALISTA to 888-777 for alerts in Spanish, or register online for voicemails and emails (City of Tampa Office of Emergency Management).

The City of Tampa Office of Emergency Management is part of Tampa Fire Rescue and works from 808 E. Zack Street, phone 813-274-7011; physical copies of the city Hurricane Preparedness Guide are available by email request to the office (City of Tampa). On May 21, 2026, the city announced that Tampa leaders would outline 2026 hurricane season preparations, the most recent seasonal briefing on the office page (City of Tampa). When a call cannot be placed, Hillsborough County supports Text to 911, with the county advice to call if possible and text if not (Hillsborough County).

Residents of the Tampa ZIP codes most likely to be evacuated can display a City of Tampa Re-Entry Hang Tag, which makes verification at re-entry points quick once evacuation orders are lifted (City of Tampa Hurricane Re-Entry Program).

The City of Tampa Hurricane Re-Entry Program covers ZIP codes 33602, 33605, 33606, 33607, 33609, 33611, 33616, 33619 and 33629, plus MacDill Air Force Base, 33621 (City of Tampa). The tag hangs from the rear view mirror with its two-digit number facing out, and the city advises keeping it in the glove box of the primary vehicle so it travels with the household.

The first tag was mailed free when the program started; extra residential tags cost $5.00 each through a city request form, and the address must be inside one of the listed ZIP codes (City of Tampa). Apartment complexes received their tags through the complex office, and tags are issued only when the City of Tampa issues an evacuation notice. A Tampa driver without a tag is stopped at the re-entry point and needs a photo ID showing the home address, business credentials, or a utility bill with a photo ID (City of Tampa).

Inside the City of Tampa, emergencies go to 911, which Tampa Fire Rescue fields through the Police/Fire 911 system, and the Tampa Police non-emergency line is (813) 231-6130 (Tampa Fire Rescue; Tampa Police Department).

Tampa Fire Rescue operates 23 fire stations and two rescue stations across the city and MacDill Air Force Base, and its Communications section fields emergency calls through the Police/Fire 911 system (Tampa Fire Rescue). Its Operations firefighters provide fire suppression and advanced life support, backed by rescue transport crews, with hazardous materials, aircraft rescue and marine firefighting specialties. Tampa Fire Rescue is accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (Tampa Fire Rescue). Ambulance bills are paid through the Digitech system, with questions to 855-378-5794, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Tampa Police Department headquarters is One Police Center, 411 N. Franklin Street, main phone (813) 276-3200 (Tampa Police Department). The department page, updated August 7, 2026 and re-checked on October 14, 2026, lists Brett Owen as Acting Chief of Police. The Tampa emergency services guide covers both departments in more depth.

The City of Tampa holds a Community Rating System class 5 rating, worth a 25 percent flood insurance discount inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 10 percent outside it (FEMA NFIP Community Status Book).

FEMA lists the City of Tampa as community 120114 in Hillsborough County, a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program since June 18, 1980, with its class rating effective since October 1, 2019 (FEMA). The currently effective flood map for Tampa is dated October 7, 2021, so the map behind a 2026 Tampa flood zone determination is five years old; the storm surge zones in HEAT are a separate county product with a 2026 revision. The FEMA flood map and the county evacuation zones answer different questions, so Tampa has a flood risk zones guide and a separate evacuation zones guide.

The Florida Geological Survey runs a Sinkhole Helpline at 850-245-2118 for Tampa and other Florida residents with questions about a hole or sunken spot in the ground (Florida Geological Survey).

The Florida Geological Survey notes that a hole or sunken spot is often not verified by a licensed professional geologist or engineer as a true sinkhole, and such events are called subsidence incidents; broken sewer and drain pipes, broken septic tanks and poorly compacted soil can mimic a sinkhole (Florida Geological Survey). If there is a risk of physical harm, the agency's first instruction is to call local law enforcement, which inside the City of Tampa means 911 or the Tampa Police non-emergency line. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection does not inspect possible sinkholes: an assessment comes from a certified home inspector or foundation specialist, and insurance questions about sinkhole claims go to the Florida Department of Financial Services Division of Consumer Services (Florida Geological Survey). The Tampa sinkhole risk areas guide covers the geology under Hillsborough County.