Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, and the stretch from mid-August through October is when Nassau County actually pays attention. Most years we are fine. Every few years we are not. This is the homework, in the order it needs doing.
If you do only one thing on this page, do the first one. Everything else can be bought in an afternoon. Knowing your zone cannot be figured out while a storm is in the Gulf.
The entire island sits in an evacuation zone, but which one you are in decides whether a given order applies to you. Zones run A through E, and they are not the same as flood zones.
Look up your address on Nassau County Emergency Management's Know Your Zone tool. It takes about thirty seconds. Write the letter down somewhere that is not your phone.
While you are there, turn on alerts. The fastest one: text the keyword OneNassau to 888777 for countywide text notices, including shelter openings and evacuation orders. The county's full alert system has more options at onenassau.com/stay-informed.
One thing people get wrong constantly: mandatory evacuations here are issued by the County Emergency Management Director, not the Governor. Watch the county, not the state, for the order that applies to your street.
Trim your trees. Anything that could come down on the house in 90 mph wind. Local arborists are booked solid by July, so this is a spring job, not an August one.
Clear the gutters. Blocked gutters in a storm push water into the soffit, and from there into the house. This is one of the most common ways a home that was never flooded still ends up with water damage.
Photograph every room. Walk the house with your phone on video. Open every closet. Email the file to yourself so it exists somewhere that is not in the house. This is the single highest-value hour you will spend, and you will only understand why if you ever file a claim.
Read your insurance. Flood is separate from wind is separate from homeowners, and plenty of island residents find that out at the worst possible moment. If you do not carry flood, get a quote. It is usually cheaper than people assume.
Find the gas shutoff. If you have propane or natural gas, locate it now and practice turning it off once.
The cone is the trigger. Not landfall, not the mandatory order. Once Amelia is in it, work this list the same day.
Top off the gas tank. Lines at the pumps start the day after the cone shows up, not the day of the storm.
Get cash in small bills. ATMs and card readers can be down for days afterward.
Fill the bathtub. Toilet-flushing water if utilities go out.
Charge everything. Phones, laptops, battery banks, the power station if you own one.
Bag your documents. Birth certificates, passports, insurance policies, deeds. One ziplock, one place, grabbable in sixty seconds.
Photograph the inside of your fridge. If the power goes and it all spoils, that photo is your claim.
Plan for seven days without power, water, or a working grocery store. Buy this in June and you will never fight anyone over the last case of water.
- Water: 7 days, one gallon per person per day. More if you have pets.
- Shelf-stable food: 7 days. Peanut butter, crackers, canned soup, canned fruit, oatmeal, granola bars.
- A manual can opener. You will forget this until the exact moment you need it.
- First aid kit and a two-week supply of prescription medication.
- A flashlight per person, plus headlamps. Headlamps are better and nobody buys them.
- A battery or hand-crank radio.
- Tarp, duct tape, and a multi-tool.
- Coolers and ice. Freeze water in jugs ahead of the storm and you get both at once.
The Island Brief is a free local rundown for Amelia Island and Nassau County, three mornings a week. County decisions, closures, and what is actually happening this weekend.
Subscribe freeStorm details change. Always confirm current orders with Nassau County Emergency Management before acting. Last reviewed July 2026.