Florida residents seek shelters as Hurricane Matthew menaces
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Thousands of residents fled their homes in search of sturdier shelter Thursday as powerful Hurricane Matthew — now a Category 4 storm — took aim at the Florida coast.
Sharon Milton, 54, doesn’t have storm shutters for her Lauderdale Lakes home or a generator in case the power goes out, so she joined the more than 750 people riding out the storm in a Broward County school gym.
“We weren’t really prepared to stay at home,” said Milton, who came with her friend, Sheila King, 61, visiting from Atlanta. “We just felt safe being in a shelter.”
In Fort Lauderdale, shelter seekers streamed into Atlantic Technical College’s Arthur Ashe Jr., Campus, carrying bags of groceries, cases of water, blankets and pillows. Broward County emergency management officials counted more than 1,400 people in 10 shelters as of Thursday morning. President Obama declared a state of emergency for Florida on Thursday ahead of the hurricane.
“It’s going to be a long day,” said Doug Gordon, 60, a Port Everglades welder who decided it was too dangerous to ride out Matthew in the trailer where he is staying in Dania Beach.
In Pahokee, in Palm Beach County, William S. Piispanem, a 75-year-old army veteran battling cancer, unloaded his belongings — a pillow, sandals and his medicine — at Pahokee Middle High School to keep safe from the storm.
"I know I had to go to shelter because I am handicapped," he said. Piispanem added that he will remain at the shelter until necessary.
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As airports across Florida closed and counties mandated evacuations, residents streamed into hotels and shelters to ride out the storm. At a morning briefing, Gov. Rick Scott urged residents to take this storm seriously. "If your watching and you're in an evacuation area: Get out, don’t take a chance," he said. "Time is running out."
In North Florida, officials said there were no more available hotel rooms in Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, Gadsden, Franklin and Gulf counties, as evacuees flocked north to avoid Matthew’s path.
As hotel rooms filled up, residents posted invites on their Facebook pages and other social media accounts telling friends and family they have a place to stay if needed. Musician Tim Russell told friends he would find them a place to stay in Tallahassee. He said he was inspired to extend the offer after seeing how openly people helped each other following Hurricane Hermine this summer.
“I’m from Wales and people there would give the shirt off their back to help you,” Russell, 37, said. “It’s really cool to see it happen here.”
Ole Fire Grill owner-operator Todd Spindler, his wife, April, and 2-year-old son, Dylan, will ride out Matthew's wind gusts at their downtown Melbourne eatery equipped with metal hurricane shutters.
"We decided to come out here to the business, where it’s a steel structure in between other buildings. And we can do control on the food and different stuff if we lose power,” Spindler said.
“And also, we can be here to help people. If somebody needs help, we can open up and get our kitchens running and feed anybody that can’t get their food. Any way we can help our city,” he added.
Ruben and Maribel Valdez made the difficult decision Thursday of dropping off their 6-year-old Chihuahua mix, Pancho, at an animal shelter in Clewiston. The couple will ride out the storm in a local church, but Pancho will have to stay at the Clewiston Critter Care Animal Clinic.
They were forced to seek shelter because they live in a mobile home, Maribel Valdez said. "We were looking for a shelter for the three of us, but we couldn't find one," she said, wiping away tears.
The shelter had boarded 15 animals but expects more to arrive as the storm nears, said Erica Arthur, a volunteer at the animal shelter.
Sonia Pérez and her fiancé Pedro Segura dropped off their two dogs, Rocky and Alaska, at the shelter.
The two are heading east to Arcadia to be with family.
"I feel like they would be safer here," Pérez said.
Contributing: Tallahassee Democrat