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Hurricane Isaias · Okaloosa County, FL

A Trailer on Your Lot in Fort Walton Beach and Destin
After Hurricane Isaias

If your home in Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Niceville, Crestview, and unincorporated Okaloosa County is not livable after Isaias, you may be able to stay on your own property while it is repaired. We deliver a furnished travel trailer to your driveway or yard, set it up, have it connected, and service it for the whole stay. When a carrier approves the trailer, we can bill the carrier directly.

Local rules. Destin, Niceville and unincorporated Okaloosa County restrict living in an RV on a residential lot, Crestview issues a temporary use permit, and Florida law limits how any of them can prohibit one on a damaged home’s lot after the Governor’s declaration. Each rule is linked to its official source below.

Housing a crew? No jurisdiction we checked in Okaloosa County has a provision for crew housing in RVs on a job site. Crew rules and housing

Satellite: GOES-East. Radar: NEXRAD. Track, cone, and warnings: National Hurricane Center Advisory 13. All at 4 PM CDT Oct. 9. Latest forecast: nhc.noaa.gov

Hurricane Isaias and Okaloosa County

Go back into an evacuated area, and plan a delivery there, only when local officials say it is safe, and follow road closures. For Okaloosa County, official updates come from the Okaloosa County Emergency Management and Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Storm facts

  • The storm. At 4 p.m. CDT on October 9, 2026, National Hurricane Center Advisory 13 had Isaias as a Category 3 hurricane, expected to make landfall along the coast of the western Florida Panhandle that evening. The hurricane warning ran from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay and Gulf county line in Florida. National Hurricane Center
  • Florida. Executive Order 26-211, signed October 7, 2026, put 27 north Florida counties under a state of emergency, including Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, and Leon. Florida Executive Order 26-211

Checked against the sources above as of . For current conditions, go to the source.

A trailer on your own lot in Okaloosa County

Whether a trailer can stay on your lot is decided by your city, or by the county outside city limits, and by your HOA if you have one. Here is what each one’s own code or official page says, in short. Our parent brand covers the residential RV rules for Okaloosa County in detail.

  • City of Fort Walton Beach. No official page we could find states a rule. Check with the city or county before delivery.
  • City of Destin. The Land Development Code bars living or sleeping in a travel trailer, camper, or motor home on a lot unless the zoning district allows it and it is approved for that lot, and has no post-storm RV permit. Florida’s temporary shelter law applies, so check with the Building Division on permits for the hookups. Source: Destin Land Development Code, Sec. 7.12.00
  • City of Niceville. The code allows RV occupancy only in an approved RV park; an RV may be kept in a side or rear yard but not lived in. Florida’s temporary shelter law applies, so check with Building and Inspections on hookup permits. Source: Niceville Code of Ordinances, Sec. 5-34
  • City of Crestview. A temporary use permit allows an RV on a parcel zoned single-family for 180 consecutive days. The RV must be licensed and road-ready, electric must be connected lawfully, a water connection is inspected and needs a backflow device, and wastewater is pumped out by a state-licensed hauler or taken to a licensed station, with no sewer connection. Florida’s temporary shelter law also applies. Source: Crestview Code of Ordinances, Sec. 38-166
  • Unincorporated Okaloosa County. The Land Development Code says travel trailers, campers, and motorhomes may not be used as a dwelling unit in residential districts, and no post-storm RV permit was found. Florida’s temporary shelter law applies, so check with Growth Management on permits for the hookups. Source: Okaloosa County Land Development Code, Sec. 6.00.04

Florida’s temporary shelter law

Florida law says that after the Governor declares a state of emergency for a natural emergency, a county (section 125.023) or a city (section 166.0335) may not prohibit one temporary shelter, which includes a recreational vehicle or trailer, on the residential property of a home that was damaged and made uninhabitable. That protection runs for up to 36 months after the declaration or until a certificate of occupancy is issued for the home, whichever comes first, and only while three things are true: the resident is making a good-faith effort to rebuild or renovate, such as applying for a building permit; the shelter is connected to water and electric utilities and is not a threat to health and safety; and the resident lives in it. Local permits for the hookups still apply.

Florida Statutes, section 125.023 (counties) | Florida Statutes, section 166.0335 (cities)

If insurance may pay for your housing

That depends on your policy and your adjuster. When a carrier approves the trailer, we can bill the carrier directly, so you are not fronting the cost. Our parent brand explains the claim side on 1st Choice Living’s Florida page. Once the placement is arranged, the trailer, delivery, and service are ours.

Every size arrives furnished, with real beds, a full kitchen, a bathroom with a shower, and heat and air conditioning. More on a trailer on your property while you rebuild.

Already working with a temporary housing company?

We work with any temporary housing company. If one is handling your housing, ask them to place you with Temporary RV Living, or with our parent brand, 1st Choice Living, for a trailer on your own lot in Okaloosa County. They send us the placement, and we deliver, set up, and service the trailer.

Crew trailers on a job site in Okaloosa County

For restoration, roofing, tree, utility, and response crews working in Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Niceville, Crestview, and unincorporated Okaloosa County. Bring the housing to the work. We deliver travel trailers to the site, or as close as the ground allows, and set up and connect them the same way we do in a driveway. A two-person crew fits one trailer. A full crew takes a cluster, and the Workforce Bunkhouse sleeps six or more per trailer, with a kitchen and a bathroom the crew shares. One point of contact runs the placement, it lands on one invoice billed directly to the company, and we handle the LOA, COI, and compliance paperwork your office or your client requires.

What the local codes say about trailers on a job site

  • City of Fort Walton Beach. With a local development permit, temporary buildings and an administrative office are allowed on a construction site once a building permit is issued, but no provision lets a crew live in an RV there. The only on-site temporary residence is one manufactured home, not an RV, for the owner or builder on a residential construction site. Source: Fort Walton Beach Land Development Code, Sec. 5.02.02
  • City of Destin. The City Manager may permit a construction trailer on a lot for 12 months while a building is under construction, but that is not permission to live in it, and the code bars living or sleeping in travel trailers, campers, and motor homes unless the zoning district allows it and the lot is approved. Source: Destin Land Development Code, Sec. 7.12.00
  • City of Niceville. Temporary buildings for construction work are allowed in any district, but living in an RV is allowed only in an approved RV park, so an RV cannot serve as crew housing on a job site. Source: Niceville Code of Ordinances, Sec. 5-34
  • City of Crestview. RVs may not be lived in, slept in, or used for residential or commercial purposes outside the single-family temporary use permit, so a crew cannot live in RVs on commercial property or a commercial job site. Source: Crestview Code of Ordinances, Sec. 38-165
  • Unincorporated Okaloosa County. A developer can get a temporary use permit for construction offices and an on-site mobile home used only for security or a caretaker, for up to 12 months, renewable on a showing of need. The code does not name RVs for this, and no provision allows crew housing on a job site. Source: Okaloosa County Land Development Code, Sec. 6.08.02

Ask the city’s building office, or Okaloosa County Growth Management outside city limits, before delivery. More on crew housing.

Power, water, and sewer for a trailer in Okaloosa County

Water, sewer or septic, and electrical connections are completed by licensed, insured contractors from our preferred vendor network, so you do not hire an electrician or a plumber. We look at how far the trailer will sit from the water, sewer, and power it will use, and confirm the site with you on the call before the trailer rolls.

Electric service in Okaloosa County comes from the utilities below. Each posts its own outage and storm updates.

Permit offices and emergency management in Okaloosa County

Call the office for the city where the trailer will sit, or the county office outside city limits. Ask whether a travel trailer may be used there, for how long, and which permits the hookups need.

What we need to start

  • The address where the trailer will sit
  • When you need it, and who is moving in: your household, pets included, or the crew head count
  • What the site has: a route in, firm ground close to level, and where the water, sewer or septic, and power are
  • For a company: in the form, choose “I am arranging it for someone else,” then “Employer housing a crew” or “Contractor or restoration”
  • Any approval the city, county, or HOA has given, or the office you have been working with

Answer a few questions in the request form and a rep calls you back with a written quote, or call (214) 493-1515.

Questions about trailers in Okaloosa County

Can I live in an RV on my lot in Destin or Fort Walton Beach after Hurricane Isaias?

Destin's code bars living in a travel trailer on a lot unless the zoning district allows it, and no Fort Walton Beach rule was found online. Section 166.0335 of the Florida Statutes says that after the Governor's declaration a city may not prohibit one temporary shelter on the lot of a home made uninhabitable, for up to 36 months or until a certificate of occupancy, while you rebuild in good faith, keep it connected to water and electric, and live in it. Ask the city's building office about hookup permits.

What does Crestview require for an RV on a residential lot?

Crestview issues a temporary use permit for an RV on a parcel zoned single-family for 180 consecutive days. The RV must be licensed and road-ready, the water connection is inspected and needs a backflow device, and wastewater is pumped out by a state-licensed hauler rather than connected to sewer. Florida's temporary shelter law also applies after the Governor's declaration.

Can a crew stay in travel trailers on a job site in Fort Walton Beach or Destin?

Not under any rule we found. Fort Walton Beach and Destin allow construction offices and construction trailers but not living in them, Crestview bars living in an RV outside its single-family permit, and the county allows only a mobile home for security or a caretaker on a construction site. Ask the city or county before delivery.

Who issues permits for a trailer in unincorporated Okaloosa County?

Okaloosa County Growth Management, Building Permitting, at 850-651-7180 in Shalimar or 850-689-5080 in Crestview. Ask about the permits for the water, sewer or septic, and power hookups.

Do you deliver travel trailers to Fort Walton Beach and Destin after Hurricane Isaias?

We deliver, set up, and service trailers nationwide, and have since 2004. Put the Fort Walton Beach and Destin address in the request form and we confirm the site with you on the call. Plan a delivery into an evacuated area only once local officials, including the Okaloosa County Emergency Management office, say it is safe to return.

Tell us where the trailer needs to be

For your family or a crew, answer a few questions and a rep calls you back with a written quote.