HURRICANE SHELTERS AND CRITICAL FACILITIES LIBRARY
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Statewide Emergency Shelter Plans
On January 31, 2010, the Division of Emergency Management released the biennial Statewide Emergency Shelter Plan. Pursuant to section 1013.372(2), Florida Statutes, the report identifies the State's capacity to shelter residents at risk from the effects of a major hurricane. In turn, the report guides local shelter planning and the construction of new educational facilities for use as hurricane shelters.
2010 Statewide Emergency Shelter Plan (Individual chapters)
2008 Statewide Emergency Shelter Plan (Individual chapters)
2006 Statewide Emergency Shelter Plan (Individual chapters)
2004 Statewide Emergency Shelter Plan (Individual chapters)
Shelter Retrofit Reports
2005 Shelter Retrofit Report (PDF)
2004 Shelter Retrofit Report (PDF)
2003 Shelter Retrofit Report (PDF)
2002 Shelter Retrofit Report (PDF)
2001 Shelter Retrofit Report (PDF)
2007 National Hurricane Conference Presentations
Performance Standards and Expectations of Hurricane Shelters (PPT)
Florida Emergency Operations Centers; 2006 Funding Formula and Design Criteria (PPT)
Design Issues for Essential Facilities and Shelters (PPT)
07 NHC EOC Design Criteria (PPT) (9.25 MB)
2006 Governors Hurricane Conference
Performance Standards and Expectations of Hurricane Shelters (PDF)
Mass Care Facility Considerations for Selecting Hurricane Shelters (PDF)
ICC/NSSA Storm Shelter Standard (PDF)
EHPA Shelters in K-12 Educational Facilities (PDF)
Special Needs Shelters Memorandum
The Secretary of the Department of Health, Dr. John Agwunobi, and the Director of the Division of Emergency Management, W. Craig Fugate cooperatively distribute memorandum to County Health Departments (CHD) and local emergency management agencies that announces expectation that all public Special Needs Shelters (SpNS) that are intended to used during hurricane impact must, at a minimum, meet the hurricane shelter safety criteria of the American Red Cross' Standards for Hurricane Evacuation Shelter Selection (ARC 4496), be provided with emergency power supported air-conditioning, and request that SpNS capacities be based upon 60 sq.ft. per client.
Click HERE to view the Notice. [ Adobe Acrobat .PDF, 3.6MB]
Spring 2005 Critical Facility and Hurricane Shelter Assessments
The Division of Emergency Management (DEM), in collaboration with the Division of Housing and Community Development (HCD), will be beginning a baseline survey of county critical facilities over the next few months. HCD is funding this initiative. This critical facility assessment will also include a second baseline assessment of hurricane shelters.
Click HERE to view the Notice. [ Adobe Acrobat .PDF, 3.6MB]
The Auditor General of the State of Florida, William O. Monroe, CPA, released Report No. 02-055 regarding "Hurricane Shelters and Grant Management. Florida Department of Community Affairs. Operational Audit." To review this report, click HERE. [ Adobe Acrobat .PDF, 5.7MB]
AUTHORITIES UNDER FLORIDA STATUTES:
- Our hurricane
shelter survey authority is vested in s. 252.385, Florida Statutes.
View the text HERE.
- The authority
for schools to be required to serve as emergency shelters is
found in s. 252.38(1)(d), Florida Statutes. View the text HERE.
- The authority
to survey a variety of types of facilities (both public and privately
owned) for emergency management purposes is found in s. 252.35(2)(o),
Florida Statutes. View the text HERE.
- The
Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area (EHPA) requirement is found in
the s. 1013.372, Florida Statutes. View the text HERE.
- The EHPA requirement for Universities is found in s. 1013.74(4), Florida Statutes. View the text HERE.
- Emergency Management Preparedness and Assistance Trust Fund - Competitive Grants Program
- Grants Section
- Design
and Construction Guidance for Community Shelters (FEMA 361, July 2000)
- Taking
Shelter From The Storm: Building a Safe Room Inside Your House (FEMA 320)
- National
Performance Criteria for Tornado Shelters
EOC RELATED DOCUMENTS:
- EOC
Project Development and Capabilities Assessment (FDEM)( 4.6MB)
- Natural
Phenomena Hazards - Design and Evaluation Criteria for Department of
Energy Facilities (DOE STD-1020-2002 1.82MB)
- US
Air Force - Installation Force Protection ( 805KB)
- Civil
Preparedness Guide: EOC Readiness Handbook (FEMA CPG 1-20 May 1984 edition)( 6.7MB)
- Civil
Preparedness Guide: EOC Readiness Handbook (FEMA CPG 1-20 May 1989 Appendix
I addendum)( 6.3MB)
- Survivable
Crisis Management Plan Development Guide ( 1.8MB)
- USACE
TI-853-01 Protecting Buildings and their Occupants from Airborne Hazards( 280KB)
- USACE ETL 1110-3-498 Design of Collective Protection Shelters to Resist Chemical, Biological and Radionlogical (CBR) Agents ( 376KB
This "Forms" section is provided as a one-stop convenience
for any online forms you may need from this Unit. If you require additional
information about the program for these forms relate, please see the
rest of the "Unit Library."
Hurricane Evacuation Shelter Evaluations:
- Florida's Least Risk Decision Making (LRDM) Guidance Table (ARC4496-Prescriptive-Summary-Table): [Adobe ]
- Least Risk Decision Making (LRDM) Table: [Word] [WordPerfect] [Adobe ]
- Hurricane Evacuation Shelter Evaluation Checklist: [Word] [WordPerfect] [ Adobe
The following information is generated by the Bureau of Mitigation. As a convenience, we have provided the following links to their web pages. Please refer any questions or issues regarding grants or funding sources to the Bureau of Mitigation.

Standards
for Hurricane Evacuation Shelter Selection,
American Red Cross
(ARC4496 Jan. 2002): [ Adobe ]
Guidelines
for the Selection of Hurricane Evacuation Shelters, American Red
Cross (ARC4496 July 1992): [ Adobe ]
- Least Risk Decision Making (LRDM) Table: [Word] [WordPerfect] [Adobe ]
- Florida's Least Risk Decision Making (LRDM) Guidance Table (ARC4496-Prescriptive-Summary-Table): [Adobe ]
- Hurricane Evacuation Shelter Evaluation Checklist: [Word] [WordPerfect] [ Adobe ]
- Hurricane Evacuation Shelter Evaluation (HESE) Course Information (G-626)
REFUGES OF LAST RESORT :
- Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, Refuge of Last Resort Strategy.[ Adobe ]
- Appendix
Proceedings of the Shelter Implementation Workshop, held July 6-7, 2000, Peabody Hotel - Orlando, Florida: [ Adobe
A low-cost method for homeowners to create a "retrofit room" inside their existing homes. Under contract with the Department of Community Affairs, Dr. Nur Yazdani, Ph.D., P.E., of the Florida A&M - Florida State University, College of Engineering, has developed this guide to help homeowners build a "retrofit room" in their existing houses. The "retrofit room" is designed to provide an area within the house that is resistant to wind speeds up to 140mph, which is the equivalent to either a Category 4 hurricane or an F2 tornado.
Click HERE to view this report. [ Adobe Acrobat .PDF, 5.0MB]
FINAL REPORT: "Florida's Hurricane Shelter Selection Guidelines Review - Proceedings of the Working Group"
National Multihazard Survey Instructions, FEMA TR-84, March 1987
National Multihazard Survey Instructions, FEMA TR-84, March 1987
- - National Facility Survey
- - Reception and Care Survey
- - Natural Hazard Vulnerability Survey
Click HERE to view FEMA TR-84
- FEMA Online Hazard Mapping - Online source for flood zone maps
- FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps
- Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculation
- Florida Building Code
- TerraServer - Online source of USGS Topographic Maps and aerial photographs
- Texas Tech University Wind Engineering Research Center
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TORNADO PROTECTION: Selecting Safe Areas in Buildings
The Division of Emergency Management presents
this booklet to help school administrators and facilities managers determine
the best available protection in buildings to shelter from a tornado threat.
Based upon actual case studies of tornado impacts on schools, the booklet
guides officials, with the help of an architect, engineer, or other experienced
facilities person, to identify safe areas within a building. The information
contained in the booklet is also useful for other types of non-school facilities
or for designing new facilities.




