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Caught outside or in a car during a hurricane

Emergency numbers differ by country

Numbers, agencies, and aid programs are different in every country. Your local page has the emergency numbers, disaster office, and shelter information for where you are. Find your local page.

Get inside the nearest sturdy building now. If you cannot, get away from trees, power lines, and water, and stay low.

This page is for people who did not make it home before a hurricane arrived: drivers, people on foot, workers, shoppers, and anyone on the water.

If you only do three things

  1. Get inside a sturdy building. Any building beats a car or open ground.
  2. Keep away from water, trees, and power lines.
  3. Once you are somewhere safe, stay there until officials give the all clear.

If you are in a car

A car is not a safe place in a hurricane. It can be flooded, crushed by a tree, or rolled by wind. Use it to get to shelter, not as shelter.

Drive to the nearest sturdy building: a store, a gas station, a school, a public building, or a hotel. Ask to come in. Most people will let you.

Do not drive through water on the road. Do not stop under trees, next to power lines, or in a low spot that could flood. Turn around if the road ahead is blocked or covered. See Flooding during a hurricane.

If you cannot reach a building, park in the safest spot you can find.

  • Choose open ground away from trees, poles, signs, and power lines.
  • Choose high ground away from rivers, canals, drainage ditches, and the coast.
  • A parking garage above ground level is a good choice if you can get to one.
  • Turn off the engine. Do not run it for heat or air with the windows closed.
  • Stay in the car with your seatbelt on.
  • Get below window level. Lean over or lie across the seat and cover your head with a jacket or bag.
  • Stay put until the wind drops for good and officials say it is safe.

Do not stay in a car in a flood zone

Cars float in as little as 30 centimeters (1 foot) of water. If water starts to rise around you, get out and move to higher ground before it reaches the doors.

If you are on foot

Get inside anything sturdy. A concrete building or a stairwell will do. Even a building with no power is better than the open.

Keep off low ground, because water rises fast. Stay away from trees, which drop limbs and fall. Avoid bridges and overpasses, where the wind is strongest and there is nothing to hold onto.

If nothing is available, lie flat in a ditch or low spot that is not filling with water and cover your head. Move at once if water starts to collect.

Watch for downed power lines. Treat every line as live, and keep clear of water that touches one.

If you are at work or in a store

Stay where you are. Do not try to drive home once conditions get bad. The trip home is the most dangerous choice you can make.

Move to the interior of the building, on the lowest floor that is not flooding. Keep away from glass storefronts, loading docks, and large open rooms with wide roofs, such as gyms and warehouses. A bathroom, stairwell, or interior office is best.

Follow the building's staff and any emergency plan. Text your family to tell them where you are and that you are staying put. Stay until officials give the all clear, even if the storm seems to ease.

If you are on a boat

You should not be on the water. If you can still reach shore, do it now and get to a building. Wear a life jacket the whole time.

If you cannot get ashore, call the coast guard on VHF channel 16 or call your local emergency number (911 in the United States and Canada) and give your position. Keep everyone in life jackets. Then ride it out the safest way you can, following any instructions the coast guard gives you.

Never stay on a boat at a dock to protect it. Boats can be replaced. See Boats for what to do before the storm.

Once you are somewhere safe

Text a family member or friend to say where you are. Texts often get through when calls do not.

Keep your phone charged and in low power mode. Listen to the radio or local officials. Stay away from windows, and do not go outside during a lull, because you may be in the eye. See The eye of the hurricane.

After the storm passes

Wait for the all clear from local officials before moving. Wind can stay dangerous for hours, and the roads are full of debris, downed lines, and water.

When you do move, take it slowly. Watch for washed out roads and treat every downed line as live. Read After the hurricane and Returning home before you set out.