Why Restrooms Come First After a Storm
When power, water or sewer service goes down, the restrooms go with it: in offices, restaurants, shelters, apartment buildings and on job sites. Recovery crews arrive in numbers, and they need restrooms and handwashing wherever they're working.
Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. The planning that helps most happens before a storm has a name.
Before the Season: Write Down What You'd Need
Facilities managers, property managers, contractors and municipalities can decide ahead of time what they'd need if their restrooms went offline, and share it with their restroom provider before the season starts.
- How Many People Would Still Be on Site: Staff, Residents, Crews
- Where Units Could Go: Level Ground, Reachable by a Truck, Away From Flooding
- Whether You'd Need Handwashing, Accessible Units or a Restroom Trailer
- Who on Your Side Authorizes the Order, and How to Reach Them When Phones Are Busy
Units Already on Your Job Site
If you have portable restrooms or holding tanks on a site when a storm is forecast, call your provider early to talk through what should happen to them: whether units should be secured, relocated or picked up, and when. Loose units and tanks become debris in high wind, so don't leave the decision until the day before landfall, when everyone's calling at once.
After the Storm: What Recovery Needs
Recovery work needs the same things any job site does, often more of them, sooner. Florida's job-site table is a good starting point for crews: one restroom for up to 10 people, two for 11 to 20, and one more for every 10 people after that, with weekly service. Busy recovery sites usually need service more often.
Shelters, distribution points and businesses reopening without plumbing need restrooms the public can use, including accessible units, plus handwashing wherever food or water is handed out. A Restroom Trailer can keep an office or restaurant open while repairs happen.
We Answer 24/7
Emergencies don't keep business hours, and neither does our phone. Call (772) 530-3606 any hour for units, handwashing and trailers across South Florida. See 24/7 Emergency Service.
Related Pages
Sources
- Florida Administrative Code Rule 62-6.0101: Portable Restrooms and Portable or Stationary Holding Tanks (Florida DEP)
- National Hurricane Center (NOAA)
This guide explains the rules in plain language; it isn't legal advice. Local requirements can be stricter.