Eye on the Tropics

Hurricane Nicole: Here’s where shelters are opening in Central Florida

Counties in Central Florida are opening shelters ahead of Tropical Storm Nicole.

See a county-by-county list of shelter locations below:

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Flagler County

On Tuesday Flagler County officials said Rymfire Elementary School has been designated as a shelter should residents need to evacuate and will open Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

Read: NICOLE LIVE UPDATES: Orlando and Melbourne airports to cease commercial operations ahead of Nicole


Volusia County

Shelters will be open by 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the following school locations: Hinson Middle School and Heritage Middle School for those with special needs and those who are medically fragile only. Shelters will open at Creekside Middle School and University High School for the general population. All shelters are pet friendly.

Read: Tropical Storm Nicole: School closures in Central Florida


Orange County

Orange County will open the following shelter locations on Wednesday at 7 a.m. All shelters are pet friendly.

  • South Econ Recreation Center/South Econ Community Park, 3850 S. Econlockhatchee Trail, Orlando, FL 32829
  • West Orange Recreation Center, 309 S.W. Crown Point Road, Winter Garden, FL 34787

For Orange County residents requiring a special needs/medical shelter please call 3-1-1.

Please refer to the website www.OCFL.net/shelters for important information on what to bring with you to a shelter and to find the latest information on Orange County shelters.


Seminole County

Seminole County opened two shelters at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning. Both shelters are pet friendly:

General population shelter: Lawton Chiles Middle School, 1240 Sanctuary Drive.

Special needs shelter: Bentley Elementary School, 2190 S. Oregon Ave.


Brevard County

Brevard County will open four shelters at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, for residents in the recommended evacuation groups and for individuals who do not feel safe in their homes as a result of the potential hurricane-force winds, storm surge, and flooding conditions from Tropical Storm Nicole.

The following shelters will be available for general population, families wishing to bring their pets, and those with medical special needs who have pre-registered or been screened by the Florida Department of Health-Brevard:

  • Max K. Rodes Community Center, 3410 Flanagan Ave., West Melbourne, FL 32904
  • South Mainland Community Center, 3700 Allen Ave., Micco, FL 32976
  • Viera Regional Community Center, 2300 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, FL 32940
  • Walter Butler Community Center, 4201 N Cocoa Blvd, Cocoa, FL 32927

Space Coast Area Transit will provide transportation to the shelters for registered special needs clients. To request transportation to a special needs shelter call 2-1-1.

Channel 9 is monitoring additional counties for shelter information and this story will be updated as more details are available.

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.

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