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RV owners evacuate only to evacuate again

They fled from the east coast carrying pets and mementos. Finding a place to stop proves tricky.

TAMPA - The refugees came lumbering across the state in RVs, their second homes on wheels, looking for a place to weather the storm.

They thought they'd found it off Interstate 4 in Seffner, where about 100 of the massive vehicles settled in at the sprawling LazyDays RV Supercenter park.

"We feel like we're in a good spot here," said Ray Reilly, who traveled with wife, Carol, from Palm Bay. "No trees. Only worry is the wind here."

Until they got the word that RVs were part of the mandatory evacuation, and they would have to leave.

At 6 p.m., an officer with a bullhorn showed up at the RV park, directed them to a local middle school and said they must be out by midnight. And no pets.

"That's a problem," said Dick Canina, who crossed the state from Merritt Island with his wife, Patricia, and their miniature pinscher, Penny.

The Caninas weren't too worried about the storm; they'd survived a tornado in Alabama in their RV. And Mrs. Canina was adamant: She would not leave Penny behind to go to a shelter.

"The problem is, we don't know where to go," said her husband. He said he would drive north, if not for the traffic and their fear that they wouldn't be able to find gasoline.

Also there were the Moges, who left their manufactured home in Palm Bay in an RV sporting a mural of a fighter plane, a salute to 71-year-old Alan Moge's career in the military.

"We think (our house) is gone," he said. "Fate is fate. The good Lord giveth and the good Lord taketh."

His wife, Mary Alice, tried to bring everything she cared about - two antique clocks, all their photos. And of course their Siamese cat, Cleopatra - also forbidden in the shelters. Finally, after much discussion, a solution appeared.

The RV owners took refuge in the park's recreation center building, as did at least 25 of their dogs. They all piled in through the main door, past the sign that read "Sorry, No Pets Allowed."

No evacuation necessary, as long as the dogs could get along.

Pam Terry, 51, was relieved. Her half-hound, half-weiner dog, Allie, lives with her in her RV fulltime, their only home.

"I've been in worse storms in RVs," she said.