Hurricane Irma: Pinellas County Residents Debate Whether To Stay Or Go

By Patch Editor Don Johnson

DUNEDIN, FL — As Hurricane Irma bears down on Florida, Pinellas residents were attempting to answer the obvious question: Should I stay or should I go now? Residents in the county’s mobile home parks and those living in low-lying areas have little choice but to leave their homes as county officials issued a mandatory evacuation order Thursday. Some of the other county inhabitants were in a wait-and-see mode.

Most of the residents at the Blue Jay Estates mobile home park in Palm Harbor had already decided to evacuate by Thursday afternoon. A few remaining residents who live in the 235-unit park were sitting around the community pool, soaking up the sunny weather.

Debbie Kuzz, who was smoking a cigarette poolside, said she was preparing to move to a nearby hotel. “We should have pulled out on Monday. Now we are kind of stuck,” she said. She said some residents are “snowbirds” from northern states or Canada and left weeks or months ago. (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Dunedin Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Watch: New Track Has Irma Directly Hitting South Florida

At Skip’s Bar & Patio in downtown Dunedin, the bartender said business had been slow all day. Several stores in the downtown area had closed by mid-afternoon.

Hector Hernandez, 63, a local resident who was enjoying a beer at Skip’s, said he had no plans to leave. “I’m going to watch and see where it goes. Probably will decide by Saturday morning,” he said.

Hernandez said he would evacuate to the nearest shelter if Irma gets close. “No point in getting on the road with all the other people trying to get out,” he said.

“I sat here through (Hurricane) Jeanne and (Hurricane) Charley. If we get (Category) 1 or (Category) 2 winds, I don’t think it would be a problem."

At the Suncoast Beach Co., employee Katherine Willis said she also had no plans to evacuate since she lives in a Palm Harbor neighborhood, but she has made preparations. “I have canned food and bottled water -- what I could find anyway,” she said.

She wasn’t sure whether the store, which sells clothing and shoes, would remain open. Business had been slow on Thursday. She said most of the customers had been vacationers from Iowa, Ohio and Chicago who planned on flying out Friday or Saturday.

Image of Hurricane Irma via National Hurricane Center