Counties with the most emergency shelters in Florida
As climate change drives weather to greater extremes, and devastating hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, and blizzards preoccupy an increasing number of Americans, it is hard to avoid comparing the reality of everyday news coverage to the computer-generated images seen in disaster movies.
Over the last 50 years, natural disasters have become five times more common due to climate change, according to the World Meteorological Organization. They've also become more economically debilitating—the five most expensive climate disasters in American history have all taken place over the last two decades.
The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters means that the need for emergency evacuation and shelter plans has never been greater. According to the Federal Emergency Management Association, understanding your climate risk, or proximity to probable natural disaster, is an important first step for making a plan. Tools like the Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation allow you to assess your risk by location.
Knowing where nearby emergency shelters are located is another way to prepare for the worst. In the event of flooding, hurricane-level winds, or other disasters, emergency shelters offer a place to sleep, and also often provide food, water, and first aid services. Stacker examined the Department of Homeland Security's National Shelter System Facilities database to identify the counties with the most emergency shelters in Florida. Counties are ranked by emergency shelters per 100K people, with total capacity per 100K people serving as a tiebreaker.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the total emergency shelter capacity in each county. Due to the variable availability of that data for each shelter, the data point has been removed from the updated version.
#50. Manatee County
- Shelters listed with generators: 14
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 7
#49. Polk County
- Shelters listed with generators: 17
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#48. Seminole County
- Shelters listed with generators: 8
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#47. Sarasota County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 4
#46. Sumter County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#45. Escambia County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#44. Hernando County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2
#43. Brevard County
- Shelters listed with generators: 17
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#42. Indian River County
- Shelters listed with generators: 6
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#41. Clay County
- Shelters listed with generators: 9
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#40. Collier County
- Shelters listed with generators: 7
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#39. Okaloosa County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#38. Monroe County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#37. Volusia County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#36. Bay County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#35. Osceola County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#34. Leon County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#33. Charlotte County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 4
#32. Alachua County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#31. Walton County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#30. Nassau County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#29. Citrus County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#28. Putnam County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#27. Jackson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#26. Wakulla County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#25. Holmes County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#24. Bradford County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#23. Jefferson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#22. Calhoun County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#21. Washington County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#20. Martin County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2
#19. Levy County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#18. Gilchrist County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#17. Dixie County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#16. Gulf County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#15. Suwannee County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#14. Union County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#13. Baker County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#12. Columbia County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#11. Hamilton County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#10. Gadsden County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#9. Taylor County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#8. Okeechobee County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#7. Hendry County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#6. Madison County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#5. Hardee County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#4. Liberty County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#3. Glades County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#2. Lafayette County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#1. Franklin County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0