via Tampa Bay Times
With backpacks and pillows, people left the shelter ready for home Thursday morning.
More than a thousand people spent the night shut in at Lealman Innovation Academy during Hurricane Milton’s barrage of overnight winds and rain.
Despite a night spent sleeping on the floor with strangers at this Pinellas County hurricane shelter, the mood was jovial Thursday as they stepped outside.
Families and friends sat chatting, basking in the cooler temperatures left by the tropical weather. Many had left to escape one of Milton’s greatest threats — wind — and now waited to see how their homes fared.
Rachel and Norman Deprey live in a nearby mobile home community. As they were packing up their car to head home, they were in good spirits.
“It was easy,” said Norman Deprey, 84, “Everything is cool.”
Rachel Deprey, 85, said they hadn’t evacuated during Hurricane Helene. But after seeing that storm’s damage, the pair chose this time to err on the side of caution. She was hopeful their home went without damage.
“We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” she said.
Jack Kendall, 34, also lives in a modular home and chose to shelter from winds. He called the atmosphere inside “anxious but lively.”
People played games and watched movies, he said. To pass the time, Kendall and his friend, Taylor Ayral, 33, built the Great Wall of China with off-brand Legos.
“It’s not the Ritz, but safer than home,” Kendall said.
For Gexiel Martinez-Blanco, 15, he was grateful to be able to sleep in his own bed soon. Like so many others there, his family lived in a mobile home and feared gusty, damaging winds. Martinez-Blanco’s father had stayed behind and said the home had minimal damage. The power was still on.
For others, the night was not as smooth.
Frank Myrthil arrived with 25 friends and family members. As soon as the rain started, around 5 p.m. Wednesday, the water began leaking in the shelter room he was staying in.
“It was practically raining inside,” said Myrthil. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful, but we did spend the entire night fighting the leak.”
Steven Ward, 34, said he spent much of the night avoiding leaks inside the shelter, moving on top of tables and chairs to dodge the rain.
According to Pinellas County, the shelter’s supervisor had not received information on flooding at Lealman Innovation Academy. The county said the shelter likely would have flagged the rain as an issue if it had become severe.
As he left Myrthil was feeling hopeful about his property.
“We’re on our way to see.”