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Pinellas County Emergency Management shares three key steps for a safer hurricane season

The 2025 hurricane season starts June 1, and Pinellas County Emergency Management encourages people to take three actions: Know your risk, make a plan and stay informed.

Know your risk

  • Evacuations are ordered to protect people from storm surge, which is the most life-threatening part of a hurricane. To know your storm surge risk, look up your evacuation zone one of the following ways:
  • Even if you don’t live in an evacuation zone, you could be at risk from rain and winds. To determine your risk from flooding, visit floodmaps.pinellas.gov. People who live in a mobile or manufactured home or are dependent on electricity for medical equipment are also at risk and should plan to evacuate.

Make a plan

  • Keep your family safe by creating or updating your hurricane kit. Find a list of items to include at disaster.pinellas.gov.
  • To help you plan for all of your family members, including people with special needs, pets and your home, review the 2025 Pinellas County Hurricane Guide, available online at disaster.pinellas.gov and at the following locations:
    • Lealman Exchange, 5175 45th St. N., St. Petersburg. Open Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. 
    • The Centre, 1500 16th St. Palm Harbor. Open Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Friday 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. 
    • Pinellas County libraries 
    • Municipal buildings
  • Residents of all ages who have medical needs or require transportation assistance may be eligible for the Special Needs Evacuation Program. Learn more and register at disaster.pinellas.gov or call (727) 464-3800. 
  • If you own a boat, learn how to prepare it for hurricanes at disaster.pinellas.gov.

Stay informed

  • Use only trusted sources for timely, consistent and reliable local information. Listen to, follow and like Pinellas County Government (Facebook @PinellasGov, X @PinellasEM and @PinellasGov); your favorite local news station; and the National Weather Service Tampa Bay forecast office on social media.
  • Sign up for Alert Pinellas to receive timely notifications.
  • Download the Ready Pinellas app in the App Store or Google Play.
  • Have a NOAA weather radio – battery-operated or hand crank.

Hurricane Preparedness Day – Saturday, May 31 

Pinellas County and the City of St. Petersburg will host a free Pinellas County Hurricane Preparedness Day expo on Saturday, May 31, to provide residents with hurricane season information and resources. The family-friendly event will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Willis S. Johns Recreation Center, 6635 Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. St. N., St. Petersburg.

Sandbag Events – June 13-14

Sandbags may help against flooding of up to 15 inches from rain or tides but will not protect your home from high water or storm surge. Residents of unincorporated Pinellas County can pick up sandbags at two self-serve events (limit 10 sandbags per vehicle):

  • Locations: John Chesnut Sr. Park, 2200 East Lake Road S., Palm Harbor, and Walsingham Park, 12615 102nd Ave., Seminole
  • Hours: Friday, June 13, Noon – 6 p.m. and Saturday, June 14, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Municipal residents should check with their city government for sandbag availability.

For more information on emergency planning as well as real-time updates during emergencies, visit disaster.pinellas.gov.