Prepare and Prevent Loss
Learn about protective insurance options for your home.
Emergency Supply Kit
Gather the supplies you need to have to be prepared.
Recover and Rebuild
Determine how best to proceed after a hurricane.
VA Hurricane History
History of hurricanes in Virginia.
FAQs
Evacuation zones designated A through D are in place across coastal Virginia. In the event of a storm or other emergency, residents of one or more zones may be directed to evacuate depending on tides, storm intensity, path, and other factors.
All you have to do is Know Your Zone.
When a storm is approaching, emergency managers will determine which zones are most at risk considering the intensity, path, speed, tides and other meteorological factors. Emergency managers at the state and local level will work with local media and use social media and other tools to notify residents of impacted zones what they should do to stay safe.
Depending on the emergency, being safe might mean staying at home, a short trip to higher ground, or traveling to a different region of the state.
The zones and Know Your Zone campaign will serve Hampton Roads, the Middle Peninsula, Eastern Shore and Northern Neck.
Twenty-three localities are participating in the program. They include the cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach; counties of Accomack, Essex, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Northampton, Northumberland, Richmond County, Surry, Westmoreland, York, and the town of Chincoteague.
The new tiered evacuation zones identify areas vulnerable to flooding with precision that was not available until now. The newest technology and data allows emergency managers to tell residents of coastal Virginia more clearly whether they need to evacuate or shelter at home during a storm or other emergency.
The new program consolidates hundreds of complex local evacuation areas into easy-to-understand zones; making it much easier to communicate with residents as a storm approaches.
The new zones will help citizens avoid unnecessary evacuation travel, thereby reducing highway congestion, easing overcrowding at local storm shelters and boosting public safety.
If your address is not located in a designated zone, the good news is you are not expected to be evacuated due to any of the identified storm scenarios.
However, that does not mean you will never have to heed instructions from your local emergency manager for major emergencies. You should still know how to protect your family from potential risks in the Commonwealth and listen closely to emergency communications during any severe weather event or emergency. Conditions can change quickly and emergency managers will provide you the best instructions to stay safe.
Learn more about preparing your family and business for any emergency at vaemergency.gov.
Some Internet or mobile services may have trouble loading the interactive map. You can still Know Your Zone by calling 2-1-1 or your local emergency manager.
