CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — The Charlotte County Office of Emergency Management, in partnership with Public Works, has installed more than 12,900 reflective decals on stop signs across unincorporated parts of the county.
The three-inch-wide vinyl bands are color and letter-coded to mark the county’s five hurricane evacuation zones, making it easier for people to identify their zone during a tropical storm or hurricane.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on the markers:
Zone A, marked in red, covers the lowest-lying areas and is the first to evacuate. Zone B is orange, followed by Zone C in yellow, Zone D in green and Zone E in purple. Together, Zones A and B account for about two-thirds of the county’s population.
“Storm surge, not wind speed, is the deadliest part of a hurricane,” Emergency Management Director Patrick Fuller said. “These reflective bands give our community a quick, clear reminder of their evacuation zone so they can take action when ordered to leave.”
Ashley Turner, the county’s Public Safety Public Information Office, said the decals will reinforce that message daily.
“It’s super important that our residents know their zone,” Turner said. “Now, when we order evacuations during a hurricane, people can leave based off the color and the letter they see every day on their stop sign.”
Officials said a similar system was in place before Hurricane Ian, but many of the older markers were lost in that storm and others that followed.
You're urged to locate their zone in advance and plan ahead for evacuation. If you live in a mobile home, a manufactured home or RV, you should evacuate before tropical-storm-force winds arrive, regardless of their location.
