St. Lucie County Hurricane Shelters and Special Needs Registration

St. Lucie County's hurricane preparedness guide maps a set of schools as emergency shelters, plus one special needs shelter at the Fenn Center in Fort Pierce and one pet friendly shelter at Fort Pierce Westwood Academy.

The map in the county hurricane preparedness guide splits the emergency shelters into primary and secondary groups and notes that secondary shelters will be opened if needed. The same map shows the two evacuation zones: Zone A for storm surge from 1 to 10 feet and Zone B for storm surge from 10 to 16 feet. The Hurricane Evacuation Zones guide for St. Lucie County covers the zones and routes in detail.

The guide tells residents to check the county website or call the public information line for shelter openings, at www.stlucieco.gov/eoc or 772-460-HELP (4357) (hurricane preparedness guide). Last verified: October 22, 2026, by re-reading the county shelter and evacuation page, the special needs program page, the preparedness portal, the pet shelter registration page, the printed county guide, the Port St. Lucie storm page and Florida Statutes 252.355.

No: St. Lucie County describes public shelters as a refuge of last resort and suggests staying with family or friends outside the evacuation zones first.

The county Shelter and Evacuation Information page says shelters for the general public may be opened in an emergency, and that the Public Safety Department suggests staying with family or friends outside the evacuation zones. The same page sorts homes by risk. Residents of a mobile home, manufactured home or recreational vehicle are told to be prepared to evacuate and find safe shelter elsewhere, even inland and even with tie downs, because those buildings may not withstand hurricane conditions or wind-borne debris. For a well-constructed home built to hurricane code, the page says to consider sheltering at home unless emergency management officials order an evacuation.

The printed St. Lucie County Hurricane Preparedness Guide ranks the options the same way. Friends or family outside the evacuation zone are called the first, best option. General population shelters are open to all individuals, provide basic care, should only be considered as a last resort, and need no registration. The guide adds that transportation to and from emergency shelters will be provided if necessary.

The City of Port St. Lucie During the Storm page gives city residents the same direction: residents who live in mobile homes or in a storm surge area should always evacuate to a public shelter or stay with relatives or friends, and residents worried about the structural integrity of their house should evacuate or seek public shelter.

The St. Lucie County Special Needs Shelter is at the Fenn Center in Fort Pierce, with the Port St. Lucie Community Center named as a second site if one is needed.

The county program page gives the addresses: the Havert L. Fenn Center, 2000 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, FL 34982, and the Port St. Lucie Community Center, 2195 SE Airoso Boulevard, Port St. Lucie, FL 34984 (St. Lucie County Special Needs Program page).

The county runs the shelter in partnership with the Florida Department of Health, for people who seek shelter from a disaster and need medical assistance (St. Lucie County Special Needs Program page). The program page sets the line as a health condition that does not meet the requirement for hospital admittance but warrants some medical assistance or care. Its list of qualifying situations includes dependence on oxygen therapy, dependence on electrically energized equipment at home (the page excludes an electric wheelchair), and being bedridden and requiring custodial care on a physician's advice. The county hurricane guide repeats the list and calls the site the Special Medical Needs Shelter.

The Fenn Center shelter is not meant to be a first stop either. The St. Lucie County Special Needs Program page says residents with health conditions have the same choices as other residents during an evacuation order, leaving the area or staying with a family member or friend in a safe location, and that the special needs shelter should be used as a last resort.

Florida law sets the frame for the St. Lucie County program. Section 252.355, Florida Statutes requires the state Division of Emergency Management, with each local emergency management agency, to maintain a registry of persons with special needs, and says a person with special needs must be allowed to bring a service animal into a special needs shelter. It also allows the caregiver of an eligible person to shelter together with that person.

Registration is online through the St. Lucie County Special Needs Program, must be renewed every year, and also covers transportation to the shelter for those who need a ride.

The Special Needs Program page says pre-registration is strongly suggested so that a client is in the system to maintain health records, receive messages from the Public Safety Department and get a smooth admittance. A paper application can be requested by email at special.needs@stlucieco.org or by calling the Public Safety Department at 772-462-8100 to have one mailed. Home health agencies set up an agency account through the same email. Clients need to re-register each year, because the registration website is wiped out annually to keep client information current.

Timing matters. Before a storm, the county shuts the registration website down 2 to 3 days before tropical storm force winds are expected to make landfall, so that transportation needs are accounted for (Special Needs Program page). After that point, the page directs riders to MV Transportation at 772-462-1778, pressing 1 for reservations. The hurricane preparedness guide notes that pre-registration is open year-round, and that registration lets staff make sure the proper equipment is online.

The two official pages describe the sign-up differently. The county program page says registration is completed online through the county site, while the City of Port St. Lucie During the Storm page says the only Special Needs Shelter for Port St. Lucie residents is at the Fenn Center in Fort Pierce and that residents need to pre-register with the St. Lucie County Department of Health, preferably before hurricane season begins. The county page also names the Port St. Lucie Community Center as a second special needs site if one is needed.

The St. Lucie County special needs shelter provides electricity, food and medical supervision, a cot and a 6 x 10 space for each client, and requires every client to arrive with one caregiver.

The St. Lucie County Special Needs Program page says caregivers at the Fenn Center receive a metal chair and may bring their own cot or an equivalent, and that only one caregiver may accompany each client because of limited space. Clients should report only when alerted by a Public Safety message, the transportation company or the local media, and not before the shelter has opened.

The packing list on the same St. Lucie County page covers pillows, blankets and linens for both client and caregiver, a 3 day supply of non-perishable food for personal preference or dietary needs, 1 gallon of water per person per day, medications in prescription bottles and medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, plus important papers, glasses and hygiene articles. The page allows service animals only. The county hurricane guide adds a general shelter kit (identification, cash, phone chargers, bedding and a change of clothing) and notes that meals are provided at the special medical needs shelter and a medical cot is provided.

St. Lucie County's pet friendly shelter is at Fort Pierce Westwood Academy, run by Animal Safety, Services and Protection, and pets must be registered before they are admitted.

The county Shelter and Evacuation Information page names Fort Pierce Westwood Academy as the pet friendly shelter, and the hurricane preparedness guide prints its address as 1801 Panther Ln. The guide says owners must register their pet before admittance, must have proof of immunization records, and that space is limited and registration is required.

Registration is a St. Lucie County form on the Pet Friendly Shelter Registration (Cats and Dogs) page, which also links a draft list of shelter rules and repeats that shelters are a refuge of last resort; staying with friends or family outside the evacuation zones is described as the more comfortable option for owners and pets. The guide's pet kit lists a 3-day supply of pet food and water, vaccination records, a pet carrier or crate, a leash and collar or harness, and an identification tag.

General shelters are different. The City of Port St. Lucie During the Storm page tells residents to take pets along when evacuating but to understand that only service animals may be allowed in public shelters, which is why the registered pet friendly site matters.

Shelter openings are announced by St. Lucie County Public Safety, and the county website, Alert St. Lucie and the emergency information line are the official places to check during a storm.

The county Emergency Preparedness Portal carries a Shelters and Evacuations panel and links the Alert St. Lucie sign-up at www.stlucieco.gov/alert for texts, emails or calls about weather alerts and other issues. During an emergency the portal tells residents to monitor www.stlucieco.gov/eoc, radio and television. The hurricane preparedness guide lists the St. Lucie County emergency information line, (772) 460-4357, also written (772) 460-HELP, and the Public Safety office at 15305 W. Midway Rd., Fort Pierce.

The City of Port St. Lucie During the Storm page adds two more ways to search: texting SHELTER and a ZIP code to 43362, and the FEMA app, which lists open shelters during an active disaster. The county Shelter and Evacuation Information page also runs a Secure Registry, separate from the shelter program, that gives first responders emergency contacts and details for registered people with disabilities such as autism or dementia, and asks families to register annually.