Hurricane Shelters — Sebastian, Florida

Hurricane shelters for Sebastian are opened by Indian River County, not by the city, and they are housed in School District of Indian River County campuses. The county does not open every site for every storm: the Indian River County Emergency Management page links a Public Shelters List and an Active Public Emergency Shelters Map, and the campuses in use are announced as a storm approaches. The office is at 4225 43rd Ave in Vero Beach, phone (772) 226-3900.

Across the storms of 2016, 2019 and 2024, two Sebastian campuses have opened each time. Sebastian River Middle School at 9400 County Road 512 has served as a general population shelter, and Treasure Coast Elementary School at 8955 85th Street, Sebastian has served as the county's special needs shelter. Fellsmere Elementary School at 50 N. Cypress Street, west of Sebastian, opened as a general population shelter in 2019 and 2024. The rest of the shelter network has been in Vero Beach, at the Vero Beach High School Freshman Learning Center, Oslo Middle School and Liberty Magnet School.

For Hurricane Matthew in October 2016, Vero News reported that public shelters would open at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 6: the Freshman Learning Center, Oslo Middle School and Sebastian River Middle School for the general population, Liberty Magnet School as the pet-friendly shelter and Treasure Coast Elementary School as the special needs shelter. A list of available public shelters that county officials provided to Sebastian Daily for the same storm was longer, naming Pelican Island Elementary School at 1355 Schumann Drive, Sebastian Elementary School at 400 County Road 512 and Sebastian River High School at 9001 90th Ave. among the Sebastian sites. The two reports differ in scope: one lists the sites that opened, the other the sites available.

For Hurricane Dorian, Sebastian Daily reported on Sept. 1, 2019 that, in conjunction with the School District of Indian River County, shelters would open Monday, Sept. 2 at noon: Treasure Coast Elementary as the special needs shelter (opening at 8:00 AM), Liberty Magnet Elementary as the pet-friendly shelter, and Fellsmere Elementary, Sebastian River Middle, the Freshman Learning Center and Oslo Middle School for the general population.

For Hurricane Milton, WFLX reported on Oct. 8, 2024 that general population shelters opened at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Fellsmere Elementary School, Sebastian River Middle School, Oslo Middle School and the Vero Beach High School Freshmen Learning Center, which the station listed as the pet-friendly shelter, and that the Treasure Coast Elementary School special needs shelter would open at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. That Milton arrangement differs from the county's standing designation of Liberty Magnet School as the pet-friendly site.

Vero News documented the Indian River County shelters through Milton. The School District closed on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024 and operated five campuses as shelters, and about 648 people checked in at School District campuses ahead of the storm, according to an Indian River County Sheriff's Office spokesperson. Residents received cots and three meals a day, and each shelter campus had a metal detector at the front entrance except Treasure Coast Elementary, the Sebastian special needs site.

After the storm, the county closed three of the five shelters, at Sebastian River Middle School, Oslo Middle School and Fellsmere Elementary School, about 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10. The Freshman Learning Center stayed open as a general population shelter for people whose homes were damaged by the tornadoes that struck Indian River County on Oct. 9, and Treasure Coast Elementary School stayed open as a special needs shelter for residents dependent on electricity. The School District planned to reopen campuses, including the Sebastian schools, the following Monday.

The Indian River County Special Needs Shelter program, whose Sebastian-area site in recent storms has been Treasure Coast Elementary School on 85th Street, runs on pre-registration. Emergency Management registers all potential clients, and the county states that preregistration is required for the Special Needs Shelter and for transportation to a general population shelter or the pet-friendly shelter. When activated, the shelter is operated jointly by the Fire Rescue Division, the Indian River County School District and the Indian River County Health Department.

As of January 2025, Indian River County moved registration online through the Florida Department of Health; residents without a computer can call 772-226-3900 to request a paper copy. County medical staff review each application to confirm that the assistance required is available at the shelter, and in some cases refer an applicant to a local hospital when needs exceed what the shelter can provide. The county notes that there will not be time to register applicants once a storm approaches Indian River County.

Indian River County designates Liberty Magnet School at 6850 81st Street, Vero Beach as the county's pet-friendly evacuation shelter, the site used for Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019 (a 2019 Sebastian Daily list gives the address as 6580 81st Street). The Indian River County Emergency Services Department manages the shelter with help from the county's Animal Control Division. The county describes the pet-friendly shelter, like other evacuation shelters in Indian River County, as a shelter of last resort.

The county sets conditions for pet owners: an animal crate large enough for bedding, a litter pan and food and water, plus proof of a current rabies vaccination and a county license for the pet, if applicable. Space is first come, first served. Those rules match the order of choices the county published for Sebastian and the rest of Indian River County during Hurricane Matthew in 2016: the home of a friend or relative outside the evacuation area first, a hotel or motel next, and a public shelter as the last option.