Hurricane guide for Cancún: find your shelter and what to do
Where to look up the temporary shelter assigned to your area, what to pack, which numbers to call, and what to do before, during and after. Official information, all in one place.
The Atlantic tropical cyclone season runs from June 1 to November 30, and Cancún sits in its path. This guide gathers what you actually need when a system approaches: where your shelter is, what to bring, who to call, and what to do at each stage. Save it — we update it when the official details change.
Where to look up your temporary shelter
This is the thing everyone searches for once it is already too late, so sort it out early.
The State Civil Protection Coordination (COEPROC) publishes the official list of shelters for all 11 municipalities of Quintana Roo at coeproc.qroo.gob.mx/refugios. There is one file per municipality; Cancún appears under Benito Juárez.
COEPROC also runs a finder, "Localiza tu Refugio", at ceiqroo.com/sys/COEPROC, to locate the nearest one.
In Cancún, the Civil Protection Department of the Benito Juárez city government inspected 82 buildings that serve as temporary shelters during a weather emergency, according to the city government itself. The review confirms they have the basic services needed to operate.
Do this today, not when the alert hits: find the shelter closest to your home and to your workplace, write the address down on paper, and check the walking route. During an evacuation, traffic and mobile service can both fail.
What to do before a cyclone approaches
The Benito Juárez city government asks residents to take these steps:
- Clear the front of your home and keep trash off the street: it is what clogs storm drains and causes flooding.
- Trim trees, especially branches near power lines and roofs.
- Follow official information from the authorities.
- Know the location of your nearest shelter.
On top of that, build your own family plan:
- A meeting point and an out-of-town contact everyone can check in with.
- Documents (IDs, deeds, insurance policies) in a sealed plastic bag.
- Water: at least 1 gallon per person per day, for three days.
- Food that needs no refrigeration or cooking.
- Flashlight, battery radio and spare batteries. When the power goes, radio is the only source of information that does not depend on the mobile network.
- Medication for at least a week, with prescriptions.
- Cash in small bills: with no electricity there are no card terminals or ATMs.
- Fully charged phones and power banks as soon as the system is announced.
If you have a pet, get its carrier, food and leash ready from the start, and confirm in advance whether your assigned shelter accepts animals.
How to know the current alert level
Mexico uses the Early Warning System for Tropical Cyclones (SIAT-CT), which grades danger in five levels: Very Low, Low, Medium, High and Maximum, based on the cyclone's distance and estimated time of arrival.
The current level is published at preparados.gob.mx/SIAT-CT and relayed by COEPROC and municipal authorities. The specific instruction for each level comes with the official notice: if they tell you to shelter or evacuate, do it without waiting to see what happens.
One point that is often misread: a hurricane's category measures wind, not total risk. Much of the damage in Cancún comes from flooding and storm surge, which can be severe even with a low-category system or a tropical storm.
During the storm
- Stay in the safest spot: an interior room with no windows, on the ground floor if flooding is not a risk.
- Do not go out during the calm. If the eye passes over, the wind returns from the opposite direction with the same force.
- Cut the power at the main breaker if water starts coming in.
- Do not use candles: a flashlight prevents fires if there is a gas leak.
- Stay away from windows and glass doors, even boarded ones.
- Keep phone lines free and use text messages instead of calls: they use less battery and get through better on a saturated network.
Afterwards
- Do not go home until the authorities say it is safe.
- Do not touch downed power lines or puddles near them.
- Check for gas leaks by smell, never with a flame.
- Boil water or drink bottled until the supply is confirmed safe.
- Document damage with photos before cleaning up, for your insurance.
- Empty standing water from pots and containers: dengue follows the rains.
Official numbers and links
- Emergencies: 911 (nationwide).
- COEPROC Quintana Roo: 983 835 1350.
- Benito Juárez city government (switchboard): 998 881 2800.
- Shelter list:
coeproc.qroo.gob.mx/refugios - Find your shelter:
ceiqroo.com/sys/COEPROC - Civil Protection infographics:
coeproc.qroo.gob.mx/infografias-de-proteccion-civil - Alert level (SIAT-CT):
preparados.gob.mx/SIAT-CT
At Noticias Cancún we follow Civil Protection notices and the season's weather bulletins. If you spot a detail in this guide that has changed, write to us and we will fix it.
Related
Some 26,600 tons have been removed in Benito Juárez so far this year, nearly double the same period in 2025; landings concentrate in the hotel zone.
State Civil Protection forecasts downpours with lightning and coastal wind gusts; the Caribbean has no active cyclones and Tropical Storm Cristóbal is moving away in the Atlantic.
The system is still far away, near Cabo Verde, and poses no immediate threat to Quintana Roo; a good moment to review your family plan.
State Civil Protection forecasts a heat index of 45 °C in the northern zone, with 25 to 50 mm of rain, lightning and coastal wind gusts up to 40 km/h.