Mobile Home Hurricane Evacuation — Brevard County, Florida

Yes: Brevard County counts mobile and manufactured homes among its mandatory evacuation areas, with the barrier islands and low-lying land, so an order that covers mobile homes reaches Barefoot Bay, Micco and Palm Bay homes wherever they sit.

The rule is stated most directly by the City of Indian Harbour Beach, whose storm FAQ lists the county's mandatory evacuation areas as the barrier islands, mobile and manufactured homes, and low-lying areas (City of Indian Harbour Beach). Satellite Beach repeats it from the other side of the Indian River Lagoon: when Brevard County issues an evacuation order, people in mobile homes may be required to leave along with residents of flood-prone ground and the barrier islands (City of Satellite Beach).

The reason is wind, not water. A surge zone map shows where the ocean and the Indian River Lagoon can push inland, but the mobile home rule in Brevard does not depend on that map. The City of Melbourne says a hurricane should never be ridden out in a mobile or manufactured home, even if it is not in an evacuation zone, because these homes face the largest risk of damage from high winds (City of Melbourne, Hurricane Preparation). That is why a mobile home order in Brevard reaches the mainland, from Palm Bay to Barefoot Bay, and not only the beaches.

Staying has costs that the barrier island cities spell out. Indian Harbour Beach warns that ignoring an evacuation order can mean delayed emergency services, difficulty reaching people who stayed, and a higher risk of losing utility service (Indian Harbour Beach FAQ).

About one Brevard County housing unit in fourteen is a mobile home, 21,557 of 299,305 in the Census Bureau's ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates, and in the Micco census area about two of every three homes are.

The countywide figure, which takes in Titusville, Melbourne, Palm Bay and the unincorporated south end, comes from table B25024, units in structure (Census ACS B25024, Brevard County). Dividing 21,557 by 299,305 gives 7.2 percent. Florida as a whole sits slightly higher: 825,085 mobile homes among 10,256,470 housing units, or 8.0 percent (Census ACS B25024, Florida).

The concentration is in the far south of the county. The Micco census-designated place counts 4,600 mobile homes among 6,834 housing units, which works out to 67.3 percent (Census ACS B25024, Micco CDP). Palm Bay is the opposite case: 1,593 mobile homes among 50,147 units, or 3.2 percent (Census ACS B25024, Palm Bay). By these counts, a mobile home order touches most households in the Micco census area and a small minority in Palm Bay. All four figures are ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates; the percentages are this page's arithmetic from the published counts.

Brevard mobile home residents under an order have three choices named by Indian Harbour Beach, a sturdy home, a hotel or a public shelter, and Satellite Beach says county shelters are usually announced 24 to 48 hours before landfall.

The Indian Harbour Beach FAQ favors local moves, describing evacuation as a trip of tens of miles (Indian Harbour Beach FAQ). The City of Melbourne's guidance on mobile homes sits on the same page as its shelter notice, which says Brevard County will post shelter locations and opening times for each storm on its Emergency Management website (City of Melbourne). Satellite Beach lists the county-run general population shelters that may open, among them two Palm Bay schools (City of Satellite Beach).

Getting there is covered for people without a car. The City of Melbourne reports that Brevard County provides free transportation to all special needs and primary evacuation shelters for residents with no means of transport, though rides go only to and from a shelter (City of Melbourne). For a household in Barefoot Bay or Micco without a car, the ride is requested through that county program.

Mobile home setup in Palm Bay, Micco and the rest of Brevard County follows one statewide standard: Florida Statutes 320.8325 and Rule 15C-1.0104, written by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, plus HUD's federal wind zone rules for the home itself.

Section 320.8325 directs the department to adopt uniform installation standards that place the home on a permanent foundation able to resist wind, flood, flotation, overturning, sliding and lateral movement (Florida Statutes 320.8325). No entity other than the department may amend those standards, so a park in Barefoot Bay or Palm Bay is held to the same anchoring rules as one in the Panhandle. The owner is responsible for an installation that meets the rules. Windstorm insurers may insure a home only if it was installed to those requirements, and the section applies to homes used as a dwelling and kept on one site for more than 14 days.

The detailed tie-down rule is 15C-1.0104, Installation Standards for Anchors and Tie-downs, adopted in 1994 and in force in its current version since March 31, 1999 (Florida Administrative Code). The City of Melbourne sums up the practical point: Florida law requires all mobile homes to be anchored, and tie-downs on older homes or homes that have been moved deserve a check before a storm (City of Melbourne).

Federal rules set the wind strength a home is built for. HUD's Basic Wind Zone Map places every Florida county in Wind Zone II, with a 100 mph design wind speed, except fourteen counties assigned to Wind Zone III at 110 mph (24 CFR 3280.305). Brevard is not among those fourteen, so homes built for Micco, Palm Bay and Barefoot Bay fall under the Zone II standard.

After Tropical Storm Fay in 2008, state inspectors found a tornado had destroyed about six Barefoot Bay homes and flooding had reached roughly 180 homes in one Melbourne park, and the only homes that moved were two older ones.

The Bureau of Mobile Home and RV Construction, part of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, issued its Fay assessment on August 29, 2008 (FLHSMV Tropical Storm Fay report). Staff checked parks in Sebastian, Melbourne, Cape Canaveral and Lake Wales after talking with emergency operation centers and county building departments (FLHSMV, Fay assessment).

At Barefoot Bay, the report describes a tornado that destroyed approximately six homes and tore off carports, awnings and screened rooms. Two older homes, one built before the HUD code and one early HUD home, shifted on their foundations; inspectors blamed installation methods no longer allowed and rusted straps (FLHSMV). The report filed Barefoot Bay under a Sebastian address. Across every area checked after Fay, the bureau found only those two homes had moved on their foundations (FLHSMV).

In Melbourne, Fay's damage was water. At the Lamplighter park, about 180 homes had flooding underneath and about 2.5 percent had water inside; at Lakes of Melbourne about 100 homes had water under them. In both Melbourne parks, no homes moved on their foundations (FLHSMV).

Yes: the state's Mobile Home Tie-Down Program, funded by the Florida Division of Emergency Management and run by Gulf Coast State College, adds tie-downs at no cost to homes installed in 1999 or earlier, a group that includes older homes in Micco and Barefoot Bay.

The college contracts with licensed mobile home installers to retrofit additional tie-downs, and it also pays for removing and reinstalling skirting (Gulf Coast State College). The program does not try to bring an older home up to current code; it makes the home as wind resistant as funding and the home's condition allow. Parks and communities apply through a park manager or homeowners association, and individual owners of stand-alone homes apply separately. The college warns that the waiting list can mean several months or years before a home is served; for a Barefoot Bay or Micco owner, enrollment is a long-range step rather than a fix for an approaching storm.

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the City of Melbourne, City of Indian Harbour Beach and Gulf Coast State College websites.