TAMPA - Five roses recently bloomed in the garden of George and Elaine Belba. One red, one pink and three yellow.
Whether they're still standing today, no one knows.
"If it rains like they say it's going to, I'll lose a lot of this," said George Belba, 72, nodding at his modest wood-chip garden.
He shrugged. "It's replaceable. But Elaine and I are not."
And so, after a leisurely dinner Saturday in their manufactured home off Gandy Boulevard, the Belbas packed into their Dodge Caravan and a massive recreational vehicle and headed out to weather the storm from the road.
They wouldn't leave if they didn't have to. Who would, when your two-bedroom, two-bathroom home, several feet above sea level with six-inch bolts along the roof, is stronger than many permanent homes?
"They say they want us to leave, so we'll leave," he said.
"We could probably ride it out here and be very comfortable," said Mrs. Belba, 64.
He shook his head. "But why take the gamble?"
There's a little contrarian in George and Elaine Belba, two diehard Republicans from Vermont, an overwhelmingly liberal state.
But at a time like this, personal politics go out the window. George Belba, a Navy veteran, was on Cape Cod when John Kennedy announced he was running for president. He met the man, shook his hand, even got his autograph with a borrowed eyeliner pencil.
You better believe that's going in the RV.
"I can't leave a $4,000 signature of John F. Kennedy, even if I am a Republican," he said.
The Belbas planned to ride out Saturday night in the International Plaza parking lot, if they could squeeze their RV next to a tall enough building. If not there, it's off to the VA Hospital lot. If things turn bad, it could come in handy for George Belba, a triple-bypass surgery survivor.
The RV itself, they say, is sturdy. It's been cross-country twice and contains a nearly full-size fridge and matching electric scooters. "Roughing it smoothly," it says on the side. They'd rather be here than stuck in an unfamiliar school or community center.
"This thing is so much comfort," he said.
"We'll snuggle in somewhere," she said. "We're just thankful that we have a motor home and we have everything we need."
Pinellas 
