The pieces of paper taped to mailboxes and front doors on Wednesday carried a stark warning: “You must evacuate your mobile home by tomorrow morning due to Hurricane Helene.”
The Twin City mobile home complex in St. Petersburg was buzzing with activity Wednesday evening as people responded to the warning, which wasn’t much of a surprise to residents because their neighborhood has become increasingly prone to flooding over the last few years. Many were lifting cars onto concrete blocks, packing up their pets and preparing to leave the complex of tidy, pastel-colored homes.
But some planned to stay. Ryann Ivins, 59, walked his dog, Dexter, during a break in the rain. Helene’s approach made him nervous, he said, because last August, Hurricane Idalia brought hip-high water into the complex and inside his home. He recalled carrying Dexter, who can’t swim, through the floodwaters to higher ground at 4 a.m.
That storm cost him baby pictures of both himself and his children, as well as photos of the hot-rod cars he had built over the years. “It’s like half my life got erased,” he said.
A few months ago, he moved into a new trailer in the same complex. He bought brand new furniture for his two children, ages 10 and 11. Now, he’s worried about what Helene could do. So while he intends to stay through the storm to keep an eye on his belongings, he is taking other precautions.
“I already got my kids out of there,” he said. “I moved all my stuff up. And pray. That’s about all I can do at this point.”
He said he’ll go on living at Twin City as long as he can stand the rising waters.
“It was real nice for a while,” he said. “Then, all of a sudden, it started to flood.”
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
