Preparations continue in parts of Florida, under the threat of Hurricane Irma. Many residents are choosing to evacuate, while others will weather the storm.
Linn Scalzo lives in Port St. Lucie. She’ll be taking shelter in a building about ten minutes away, but just as a precautionary measure.
“I don’t want to leave. By the time it hits Miami as a Category 4, it is going to start diminishing. When it comes through, it is supposed to be around a 3, and then when it gets to us, it’ll be around a Category 3 or 2. I think we should be fine. But I have two dogs and my mother is 82 years old,” Scalzo says.
Scalzo notes, “When it comes to hurricanes, Florida residents know what they need to do, for the most part. We were here for all of the past hurricanes. 2004 was a crazy year, and we got hit a few times, but we survived. This time they started doing things early, which was a surprise. I guess after seeing Texas, many people realised they needed to go out and get supplies, and they did.”
She says those needing supplies in her community are out of luck. The store shelves are empty. That’s a result of residents stocking up, but also, Scalzo says prior to the threat of Irma, many of the supplies were shipped to Texas to support those who were devastated by Hurricane Harvey.