A	1	74 - 95 mph	Minor
		No real damage to building structures. Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees. Also, some coastal road flooding and minor pier damage
B	2	96 – 110 mph	Moderate
		Some roofing material, door, and window damage to buildings. Considerable damage to vegetation, mobile homes, and piers. Coastal and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of center. Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings.
C	3	111 – 130 mph	Major
		Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures. Mobile homes are destroyed. Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by floating debris. Terrain continuously lower than 5 feet ASL may be flooded inland 8 miles or more.
D	4	131 – 155 mph	Severe
		More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof structure failure on small residences. Major erosion of beach. Major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore. Terrain continuously lower than 10 feet ASL may be flooded requiring massive evacuation of residential areas inland as far as 6 miles.
E	5	Above 155 mph	Catastrophic
		Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 feet ASL and within 500 yards of the shoreline.Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5 to 10 miles of the shoreline may be required.

More severe evacuation zones include all less severe evacuation zones, i.e. B includes A, C includes both A & B, etc.

Obtain evacuation information, including zones, shelters, and routes,  from the St. Petersburg Times Hurricane Guide (2.2 MB pdf).

(The guide is in Adobe Acrobat "pdf" format. If you do not have the free reader installed, please go to the Acrobat Reader download page first.)