Oviedo Disaster Shelters

Disaster Shelters are opened on a "as needed" basis, generally reserved for natural or man made disasters. The City of Oviedo Fire Rescue Emergency Management in cooperation with Seminole County Emergency Management and the Seminole County School Board have established Disaster Shelters throughout Seminole County including the Oviedo area.

You are strongly encouraged to consider "shelter in place" or another-words, remain in your home during a disaster if you have made the appropriate disaster home preparations and your home is not in an immediate threat to rising water, destruction due to extreme weather or otherwise of suitable construction. A Disaster Shelter is suggested for those who are unable to properly secure their home, are unable to properly take care of their needs, are unable to stay with family or friends, or reside in a flood prone area.

The Disaster Shelters are opened depending upon the disaster location, size of the disaster, and many other factors. You are encouraged to monitor local news media and visit your local government website or other notifications on the status of local Disaster Shelters. If you choose to re-locate to a Disaster Shelter, you must bring your own food, water, personal products, medications, clothing, sleeping, etc., materials. Special Needs Disaster Shelters are reserved for those who have pre-qualified for placement due to specific medical and other needs. Pets are not permitted in most Disaster Shelters and you should make pre-arrangements for pet sheltering with your vet or other means.

Oviedo Area Disaster Shelters

• Evans Elementary School
• Lawton Chiles Middle School

What Needs to Be in a Family Disaster Plan

The City of Oviedo Fire Department encourages you to develop a Family Disaster Plan to prepare you and your family for any type of natural or man-made disaster. A Family Disaster Plan consists of determining those items that are important in preparing for and recovering from a disaster and recognizing the utilities, government services, and supplies are difficult to obtain for days or weeks.

Your Family Disaster Plan will provide you with the steps necessary to protect your home, purchase supplies, and also provide suggestions towards assuring proper insurance coverage is assigned on your homeowners policy. Please visit the Florida Division of Emergency website to create and evaluate your Family Disaster Plan or contact the City of Oviedo Fire Rescue.

FEMA National Flood Insurance Program

Community Rating SYstem & Flood warning system

Since 2008 The City of Oviedo is an active participant of the Community Rating System (CRS) governed by FEMA. The City's rating allows the premium on flood insurance policies to be reduced by up to 20%. Most homeowners insurance policies do not cover flooding. Check with your agent to ensure flood coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program. The City's assigned number is 120293. Your insurance agent may request this number when you apply for flood insurance coverage. 

Building Maximum Coverage

Contents Maximum coverage 

Rating for the oviedo community 

Class - - - 

This outstanding rating for the Oviedo community allows residents within a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) up to ---% of their premium of a NFIP. 

FLOOD DETAILS

The City strongly recommends all residents regardless of flood zone or lender requirements to protect their investment and hold flood insurance for homes. Having an elevation certificate for your property is a valuable tool and allows insurance companies and lenders to appropriately assess the premium. Remember, a flood insurance policy takes 30 days to procure before a claim can be made, and flood insurance cannot be purchased in the onset of a natural disaster. For homes at a greater risk or built pre-FIRM, there are requirements to floodproof your home if the structure does not meet the City's current building or floodplain management code and damages by flooding exceed 50% of fair market value within a 10 year period. We encourage our residents and business owners to inquire if you reside within a specified FEMA Flood Zone or a Flood Prone area. You can reach the City's Floodplain Manager at 407-971-5682 or akortus@cityofoviedo.net. Those properties that fall within a Flood Zone or Flood Prone area are at greater risk of encountering flooding from rising water due to daily thunderstorms, tropical storms or any other sever weather event. 

You may also wish to visit the FEMA website and review the content related to flooding, and also review the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map. This information can be found by visiting floodsmart.gov.

Flood warning system notification

The City of Oviedo Emergency Management will also provide reverse 911 phone message alerts for those potential disaster events which will focus on those homes or businesses that are specified within a Flood Zone in accordance with the current FEMA Flood Maps. However, the property must have a landline telephone with a published phone number. Non registered or private numbers are not included in the alert method. 

Other alerting methods suggested

We strongly recommend that all residents and business owners incorporate other alerting methods for potential Flood Watches or Warnings. These include a "weather alert radio", registering with a local news media website for "email or text message alerting" and monitoring local daily weather from both television and radio media outlets.

Evacuation Routes

The City of Oviedo Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan includes Evacuation Routes that may be utilized in the event of an emergency. These pre-determined Evacuation Routes are designed to move the greatest volume of vehicle traffic in the shortest time frame in keeping with recognized emergency management principles.

Hurricane Preparedness

Hurricane Season begins June 1 and concludes November 30. The City of Oviedo Fire Rescue and Emergency Management Department urges all of Oviedo's citizens to prepare for the season by developing a Family and/or Business Disaster Plan.

For complete Hurricane Preparedness including what to do before, during, and after a storm use the 

HURRICANE/STORM PREPARATION PAGE

Severe Weather in Oviedo

Florida is prone to severe weather including severe thunderstorms, dangerous lightning, hail, tornadoes, localized flooding, tropical storms and hurricanes, and wildfires. You can become better prepared for these severe weather events by receiving early notifications.

The City of Oviedo has invested in an Outdoor Tornado Siren Warning System to provide an “alert of last resort” for tornado severe weather events. This alerting system will only be used for a "Tornado Warning" issued for Seminole County and directly impacting the Oviedo Community!

Alerting Methods

We strongly encourage you to subscribe to other alerting methods:

• Email and text message alerts from local television or radio media
• Email and text messages from the Prepare Seminole website
• NOAA weather alert radio for the home and business

No single severe weather alerting system is considered the only approach to effective alerting and the more methods of receiving a severe weather alert the better your chances of surviving a potentially dangerous severe weather event!

The City of Oviedo strongly recommends all residents and businesses sign up for Prepare Seminole Alerts in case of potential flood watches and warnings.  Should there be a need for an evacuation, residents in those areas will be alerted via reverse 9-1-1.  Residents and businesses are also encouraged to monitor local media during severe storms, as well as, register to receive Alerts from the City's website.  The City of Oviedo, Police and Fire Departments also utilize Facebook, X and NextDoor to send emergency information.

Seminole County Flood Facts

Sign Up for City Notifications

Registration

The City of Oviedo Fire Department encourages those residents with disabilities that would impede their ability to prepare for or recover from a disaster, to register with the City of Oviedo Fire Department and Seminole County Emergency Management.

Prepare Seminole

The registration form is used to notify the resident of potential disasters as well as to check on the resident after a disaster has occurred. In addition, based on the resident's disability, recommendations will be made for more appropriate accommodations such as staying with family or relocating to a special needs shelter. The information provided remains confidential in accordance with the HIPPA legislation. You will be notified if you meet the eligibility requirements for the program. To learn more and to apply visit the Seminole County, Prepare Seminole Special Needs Plan page.

Oviedo Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan

The City of Oviedo Fire Department and all City Departments are actively engaged throughout the entire community in conducting a city-wide survey for immediate Life-Threatening Hazards following a disaster. The City of Oviedo Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan specifies a method of surveying the entire Oviedo community utilizing a grid system and allocating emergency services and public works teams into each grid. 

Phases

LIFE-THREATENING CITY-WIDE Survey

Immediate Life-Threatening Hazards are addressed during this phase. Depending on the magnitude of the disaster, this process can take several hours or up to 24 hours.

Recovery Operations

After completion of the Life Threatening City Wide Survey, the disaster management operations move towards Recovery Operations which include debris removal from the major roadways and other city streets, restoration of utility service including (but not limited to) water, sewage, telephone, cable, gas, electric, etc). 

Restoration Phase

The Restoration Phase is also contingent upon many private utility providers and the resources they allocate to the area. All of these efforts are coordinated via the City of Oviedo Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Depending on the magnitude of the disaster, this process can take several hours to several days or perhaps weeks in extreme disaster situations.

Debris Removal

The City of Oviedo Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan includes management of Debris Removal. Any disaster that exceeds the capabilities of our local Public Works Responders will require the activation of our contractual Debris Contractor. Depending on the magnitude of the disaster, this process can take several days to a week or longer to fully mobilize.

Debris removal is typically the longest and most costly phase of disaster recovery operations. We appreciate your patience as we work tirelessly during this recovery phase.

Damage Assessment & SHORT-TERM Sheltering

The next phase and commonly already in progress during the above phases is Damage Assessment and Short Term Sheltering. The Damage Assessment is conducted by Building Officials in which Building Inspectors are surveying the physical damage to both residential and commercial buildings. The damage assessment totals are forwarded to FEMA to achieve a federal disaster declaration. Short Term Sheltering is made available when individuals' homes are inhabitable and these shelters are normally Public School Shelters. This sheltering is normally only available for several days or weeks or until the school system resumes. Long Term Housing may also be implemented; however, this is an extensive operation that takes a considerable amount of time to organize. Normally, your home insurance policy will cover housing expenses and you should consult your carrier.

Point of Distribution & Additional programs

One other important disaster recovery program includes Point of Distribution (POD) Disaster Relief Supplies. The POD site is activated only for large-scale disasters impacting a significant portion of the population. The POD site for the Oviedo region has been predetermined and will be established at the Oviedo Mall. Typical disaster relief supplies may include food, water, tarps, etc.; however, we strongly encourage you to develop a Family Disaster Plan including Disaster Supplies so you may be self-sustaining for at least 7 days.