Hurricane Shelters and Special Needs Registry — Brevard County, Florida

Brevard County Emergency Management, run from 1751 Huntington Lane in Rockledge, opens public hurricane shelters one storm at a time, choosing general population, pet-friendly and special needs sites only when a threat calls for them.

There is no fixed list that is open every season. The City of Melbourne explains that shelter locations and opening times are set for each storm and posted on the county Emergency Management website (City of Melbourne). Three kinds of shelter are planned across the county: general population, pet-friendly and special needs (City of Melbourne, Emergency Shelters). Timing follows the forecast. In Satellite Beach, the city notes that county shelters are typically announced 24 to 48 hours before landfall (City of Satellite Beach).

Announcements travel through several county channels. Indian Harbour Beach tells residents that openings are posted on the Brevard Emergency Management social media pages, passed to 211 Brevard and sent to local media once the decision is made (City of Indian Harbour Beach). The county Storm Center lists the Community Information Hotline as 2-1-1 and a text alert sign-up: text BREVARDEOC to 888777 (Brevard County Storm Center).

A public shelter is one option among several. The Indian Harbour Beach FAQ advises evacuees to travel tens of miles rather than hundreds and to shelter locally, choosing a sturdy home or hotel outside the evacuation zone or a public shelter (Indian Harbour Beach FAQ).

The City of Satellite Beach names Heritage High School and Port Malabar Elementary in Palm Bay, plus the Viera Regional Community Center, among the county-run general population shelters that may open.

The list is a guide, not a promise. Satellite Beach states plainly that not all shelters open for every storm and that official notices carry the active list (City of Satellite Beach, Shelter Information). The table below gives the addresses exactly as the city publishes them.

For South Brevard, the two Palm Bay schools are the listed sites closest to home. Heritage High School sits at 2351 Malabar Rd NW, and Port Malabar Elementary is at 301 Pioneer Ave NE, both in ZIP code 32907 (City of Satellite Beach). The Satellite Beach list names no site inside Malabar, Grant-Valkaria, Micco or Barefoot Bay, so residents of those communities who are told to leave watch the county's notices for the Palm Bay and Viera openings.

A Brevard County shelter is a bare room, not a hotel. Cots and beds are not provided, so evacuees bring pillows, sheets, blankets and a portable cot or air mattress, according to the Indian Harbour Beach FAQ (City of Indian Harbour Beach). The same FAQ lists three days of nonperishable food per person for anyone on a special diet and a two-week supply of required medications. Satellite Beach adds that shelters do not supply bedding, pillows, hygiene items or medications (City of Satellite Beach).

Brevard County plans pet-friendly shelters along with its general population and special needs shelters, and the City of Satellite Beach cites the Viera Regional Community Center Pet Shelter as an example of one.

Owners bring the supplies. The Satellite Beach shelter page lists proof of current vaccinations, a crate or carrier for each pet, food and water for at least three days, and a leash, ID tags and any medications (City of Satellite Beach). Service animals are a separate category: Satellite Beach notes they are allowed in all public shelters, including the special needs shelters (City of Satellite Beach, Persons with Disabilities), and Florida law gives a person with special needs the right to bring a service animal into a special needs shelter (Florida Statutes 252.355).

Pets of special needs clients follow their own route. The City of Melbourne explains that pets are not allowed in Brevard County special needs shelters, so the registration application has room for pet details (City of Melbourne). When it is time to go, the client gets a call confirming the need and the pet information, and Animal Services picks up the pet. After the emergency, once the client is home again, Animal Services returns the animal, according to the same Melbourne page.

A Brevard County special needs shelter is for residents with health or medical conditions who need help during an evacuation and have no other safe place to go, and a space requires advance registration with Brevard County Emergency Management.

Satellite Beach summarizes the criteria in three lines: residents who are electrically dependent, for example on oxygen or feeding pumps, who require minimal medical care, and who have no other safe sheltering option (City of Satellite Beach). The City of Melbourne frames the same test as medical equipment that needs electricity, serious health issues or a caregiver, combined with no other safe option (City of Melbourne). Registration is required, and each special needs shelter is assigned to its clients so that enough supplies and medical professionals are on hand to help caregivers.

Registration runs through the county office in Rockledge. Satellite Beach gives the number as 321-637-6670 and asks residents to register before hurricane season (City of Satellite Beach). The Storm Center lists the same office at 1751 Huntington Lane, Rockledge, FL 32955, with email at Brevard.EOC@BrevardFL.gov and fax (321) 633-1738 (Brevard County Storm Center). Rides are part of the program: Brevard County provides free transportation to all special needs and primary evacuation shelters, for anyone who asks on the application or has no way to get there, but only to and from a shelter (City of Melbourne).

The state keeps a parallel list alongside the Rockledge office. The Florida Division of Emergency Management points registrants to the Florida Department of Health Special Needs Registry and warns that completing it does not automatically qualify a person for a special needs shelter; the local emergency management agency, which for Brevard residents is the county office in Rockledge, provides information on evacuation and sheltering options (Florida Division of Emergency Management). The division adds that information given to it for emergency planning is exempt from public records requests under F.S. 252.905.

Two Florida statutes divide the work: Brevard County Emergency Management designates and operates special needs shelters, and the Florida Department of Health in Brevard staffs them with health care workers.

Section 252.355 sets up the registry. The Division of Emergency Management keeps it in coordination with each local emergency management agency, which in Palm Bay, Melbourne and the rest of the county is the Rockledge office, and every electric utility must tell residential customers about the program by May 31 each year (Florida Statutes 252.355). A caregiver and everyone in that caregiver's care may shelter together in the special needs shelter. Registration records are confidential, though local law enforcement receives the full shelter roster on request, and the program lets registrants preauthorize responders to enter the home during search and rescue.

Section 381.0303 assigns operations. Local emergency management agencies designate and operate special needs shelters and close them afterward; county health departments assign their own employees to work in the shelters, and county governments help with nonmedical staffing (Florida Statutes 381.0303). Each special needs shelter must set aside an area for people with Alzheimer's disease or related forms of dementia. In Brevard, the health department's Emergency Preparedness line is 321-690-6488, with a mailing address at 2565 Judge Fran Jamieson Way in Viera (Florida Department of Health in Brevard).

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Brevard County Storm Center website and the City of Melbourne and City of Satellite Beach websites.