How Do I Find My Hurricane Evacuation Zone in Pensacola, Pace or Milton?

Type the address into your county's Know Your Zone lookup. Pensacola is in Escambia County, which runs its lookup at myescambia.com/knowyourzone. Pace, Milton and Navarre are in Santa Rosa County, which runs its lookup at santarosa.fl.gov/KnowYourZone. Zones run from A to E, and some addresses aren't in a zone at all.

Vivian Corwin is a bilingual Realtor and Military Relocation Professional with IXL Real Estate Florida in Pensacola, FL, helping military and relocating families buy and sell homes across Pensacola, Pace, Milton, Gulf Breeze, and Navarre.

Zone A is the most likely to be told to leave, and Zone E is the least likely. When a storm comes, the county announces which zones should evacuate. Santa Rosa County says Zone A evacuates for every hurricane, and for tropical storms when ordered.

Escambia County says the zones are built on storm surge, but they also weigh other safety factors, such as an area that could be cut off from first responders. It treats every barrier island property as Zone A.

No. The evacuation zone is the county's plan for who leaves before a storm. A flood zone is a different map, used for flood risk and flood insurance. A home can sit in one and not the other, so check both.

My post on flood zones and insurance in Pensacola covers the flood side.

• Before you make an offer. It's one more fact about the address, and it takes a minute.
• Right after you move in. Save your zone where you'll find it in a hurry.
• Every year. Escambia County says zones can change, so it asks residents to look theirs up each year, even if they've checked before.
• Before hurricane season. The Atlantic season runs June 1 to November 30.

1. Look up your zone. Use the county lookup for your new address.
2. Sign up for county alerts. Both counties post updates through their emergency management offices.
3. Know where you'd go. Pick a place outside your zone ahead of time.
4. Check your insurance. Standard homeowners policies don't cover flooding.
5. Look again next spring. Zones can change.

• Assuming inland means no zone. Look it up rather than guess.
• Mixing up the two maps. An evacuation zone and a flood zone answer different questions.
• Using the wrong county. Pensacola is Escambia. Pace, Milton and Navarre are Santa Rosa.
• Checking once. Zones can change from year to year.

Where do I look up my zone in Pensacola?

Escambia County's lookup is at myescambia.com/knowyourzone.

Where do I look up my zone in Pace or Milton?

Santa Rosa County's lookup is at santarosa.fl.gov/KnowYourZone.

Is my evacuation zone my flood zone?

No, they're separate maps, so it's worth checking both.

When is hurricane season?

The Atlantic season runs from June 1 to November 30.

Vivian Corwin is a bilingual Realtor and Military Relocation Professional with IXL Real Estate Florida in Pensacola, FL, helping military and relocating families buy and sell homes across Pensacola, Pace, Milton, Gulf Breeze, and Navarre. Let's talk about your goals and your timeline. I'll walk you through it before you decide anything.

See how I help people relocating to the Pensacola area, or schedule a time to talk with Vivian.