Where to find hurricane shelters in Central Florida

Orlando Sentinel Staff, Orlando Sentinel
Updated ·4 min read

Here’s where to find your nearest hurricane shelter.

Brevard County:

Brevard County opened shelters at 10 a.m. Wednesday for residents of flood-prone or low-lying areas. All are pet-friendly and can handle special needs.

  • Max K. Rodes Community Center: 3410 Flanagan Ave West Melbourne, FL 32904

  • Walter Butler Community Center: 4201 N Cocoa Blvd, Cocoa, FL 32927

  • Wickham Park Community Center: 2815 Leisure Way, Melbourne, FL 32935

You can find the latest information here.

Flagler County:

Flagler County has opened two shelters:

General Population and Pet Friendly

  • Bunnell Elementary School: 305 North Palmetto St, Bunnell. This shelter is for the general population and is pet-friendly.

  • Rymfire Elementary School: 1425 Rymfire Dr, Palm Coast. This shelter is for those with special medical needs only.

You can find the latest information here.

Lake County:

Lake County will opened 11 emergency shelters for residents.

Pet-friendly:

  • Villages Elementary: 695 Rolling Acres Road, Lady Lake

  • Leesburg Elementary: 2229 South St., Leesburg

  • Umatilla Elementary: 401 Lake St., Umatilla

  • Lost Lake Elementary: 1901 Johns Lake Road, Clermont

  • Astatula Elementary: 13925 Florida Ave., Astatula

  • Treadway Elementary: 10619 Treadway School Road, Leesburg

  • Spring Creek Charter: 44440 Spring Creek Road, Paisley

  • Mascotte Charter: 460 Midway Ave., Mascotte

  • Round Lake Charter: 31333 Round Lake Rd, Mount Dora

Not pet-friendly:

  • Mount Dora High School: 700 N. Highland St, Mount Dora

  • Leesburg High School: 1401 Yellow Jacket Way, Leesburg

  • East Ridge High School: 13322 Excalibur Rd, Clermont

  • East Ridge Middle School: 13201 Excalibur Rd, Clermont

  • Lost Lake Elementary School: 1901 Johns Lake Rd, Clermont

  • Tavares High School: 603 N. New Hampshire Ave, Tavares

For residents with special needs:

  • Villages Elementary

  • Leesburg Elementary

  • Umatilla Elementary

  • Lost Lake Elementary

  • Astatula Elementary

You can find the latest information here.

Orange County:

Orange County has opened six emergency shelters for residents.

Pet-friendly:

  • Apopka High School: 555 Martin St., Apopka

  • Oak Ridge High School: 6000 Winegard Rd., Orlando [Update: As of Wednesday afternoon, this shelter is no longer accepting residents]

  • Timber Creek High School: 1001 Avalon Park Blvd., Orlando

Not pet-friendly:

  • Ocoee High School: 1925 Ocoee Crown Point Pkwy., Ocoee

  • Dr. Phillips High School: 6500 Turkey Lake Rd., Orlando

  • Memorial Middle School: 2220 29th St, Orlando

Orange County asks residents who require a Special Needs/Medical Shelter to please call 311. Residents who are deaf or hard of hearing can chat online, download the OCFL 311 app, or register at www.ocfl.net/psn, to ensure access to resources and transportation.

Osceola County:

Osceola County has opened several emergency shelters.

Pet-friendly:

  • Kissimmee Middle School: 210 Dyer Blvd., Kissimmee

  • Liberty High School

Not pet-friendly:

  • Celebration High School: 1809 Celebration Blvd., Celebration

  • Harmony High School: 3601 Arthur J Gallagher Blvd., St Cloud

  • Narcossee Middle School

Osceola County has one special needs shelter at Osceola Council on Aging, 700 Generation Point in Kissimmee.

Marion County

Marion County has opened six shelters for residents.

  • Dunnellon High: 10055 SW 180th Avenue Road, Dunnellon

  • Belleview Middle: 10500 SE 36th Ave., Belleview

  • Fort McCoy School: 16160 NE County Road 315, Fort McCoy

  • Hammett Bowen, Jr. Elementary: 4397 SW 95th St., Ocala

  • North Marion Middle: 2085 W County Road 329, Citra

Pet-friendly:

  • Vanguard High: 7 NW 28th St., Ocala

The following shelter will open for those with special needs at 5 p.m.:

  • West Port High School: 3733 SW 80th Ave., Ocala

You can find more information here.

Seminole County:

Seminole County will opened eight emergency shelters for residents Wednesday.

  • Lake Mary High School: 655 Longwood Lake Mary Rd, Lake Mary

  • Lawton Chiles Middle School: 1240 Sanctuary Dr, Oviedo

  • Lyman High School: 865 Ronald Reagan Blvd, Longwood [PET FRIENDLY]

  • Midway Elementary School: 2368 Brisson Ave, Sanford

  • Winter Springs High School: 130 Tuskawilla Rd, Winter Springs

Special-needs shelters:

  • Bentley Elementary School: 2190 S Oregon Ave, Sanford [PET FRIENDLY]

  • Layer Elementary School: 4201 FL-419, Winter Springs

Residents with special needs should call the county’s hurricane hotline at 407-665-0000 if they need to stay at a shelter.

You can find the latest information here.

Sumter County:

Sumter County opened three emergency shelters for residents.

Pet-friendly:

  • Sumter County Fairgrounds

  • Wildwood Elementary School

Special-needs:

  • Wildwood Community Center

For more information call 352-689-4400 or click here.

Volusia County:

Volusia County Schools and Volusia County Government will opened four shelters.

General population shelters are:

  • Mainland High School: 1255 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach

  • DeLand High School: 800 N. Hill Ave., DeLand

Special needs-shelters are:

  • Atlantic High School: 1259 Reed Canal Road, Port Orange

  • Galaxy Middle School: 2400 Eustace Ave., Deltona

All four shelters will accept pets

Residents who believe they may need to use a shelter in the case of an evacuation are urged to call the Citizens Information Center at 866-345-0345.

You can get more information on shelter openings and locations here.