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Thousands seek higher ground

Hillsborough shelters quickly fill up Saturday. Flooding is expected, and those living in mobile homes are ordered to leave.

TAMPA - Vicki Watts moved quickly as she swept her mother's photo albums, Beanie Babies and cat Max into her minivan.

"She was sure she wasn't going to (be able to) come home" after Hurricane Charley, said Watts, 45, standing at the door of her mother's manufactured home in South Tampa. "She's afraid she won't have anything to come home to this time."

Watts, like tens of thousands of Hillsborough residents, headed for higher ground Saturday night after county officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for those living in the county's 60,000 trailers, mobile homes and recreational vehicles.

Those residents had until midnight to pack up and head for higher ground to avoid Hurricane Frances, the brunt of which is expected to hit the area today.

Hillsborough made the evacuation announcement shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday. County Administrator Pat Bean said emergency officials waited in order to make sure it was necessary.

"Everything about this storm has been so unpredictable, because it's moving so slowly," Bean said. "We do expect there will be some level of flooding, particularly along the rivers and the low-lying areas."

However, no evacuation order was issued for flood-prone areas. Bean asked those residents to exercise whatever caution they could.

"We're trusting that they're going to use their best judgment," she said "If you've lived in those areas for some time, you know the circumstances, including if your area is prone to flooding."

At 2:15 p.m., the Emergency Operations Center warned residents along the Alafia River that the river could rise more than 16 feet. For some, that could mean flooded homes and using a canoe for transportation along Squirrel Run Way.

By 3 p.m., Susan and Jim Mortimer, who lived in their stilt home for 18 years, were preparing to evacuate to their daughter's home in Seffner. Normally, the Mortimers would wait out the storm as they did Charley, but Jim Mortimer's parents had come in from Vero Beach, making transportation by canoe more difficult.

Mortimer said most houses would be free from flooding as long as the river doesn't rise to 21 feet or higher.

"That's when we have to worry," Susan Mortimer said. "Hopefully, (the EOC) is right, because if so we're fine."

After a 6 p.m. shift change, many Hillsborough sheriff's deputies began 12-hour shifts by combing through manufactured home and trailer parks, warning residents via bullhorn that their homes were in danger.

"We could physically make them leave," said sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rod Reder. "But the sheriff decided back with Charley that we just don't have time. If they don't want to heed a very dire warning, we're not going to spend our resources. We're going to take care of the people that want to cooperate."

Deputy Tony Mannarino cruised through the Carefree Village neighborhood in Town 'N Country, informing residents of the evacuation order. It was the first Lyn Friedah, 57, and her neighbors had heard of it. Even as the streets filled with water Saturday evening, they planned to stick it out.

"The whole state is going to be affected," Friedah said. "Where are we going to go?"

Besides, she said, "I'm not leaving any of my cats."

Others also chose to stay put. At the Life of Reilly Trailer Court on Gandy Boulevard, residents who fled during Charley figured they'd have an easier time with Frances.

"I've seen several hurricanes - Donna, Elena and Charley to name a few," said 56-year-old Dave Woodley. "It's going to amount to a heavy summer rainfall with gusts up to 40 mph. I think we can withstand that."

Besides, said 50-year-old Phil Worthington, "If all else fails, we've got the Moose Lodge across the street."

Maybe not. Most Hillsborough emergency shelters were filling up quickly Saturday night, particularly with residents from neighboring Polk County. Burnett Middle School in the eastern part of the county went from 16 temporary residents to 59 in 10 minutes around 8 p.m., and was full by 8:30 p.m.

Elida Olivares left her Plant City home with her husband, three children, mother and two brothers at 5 p.m. seeking shelter. They went to Plant City's Turkey Creek Middle School, only to be turned away because the shelter was full. They were told to go to Tomlin Middle School in the same town. There, they were told the same thing.

So Olivares called the EOC from her cell phone and was told to go to Marshall, another Plant City middle school. When she got there, it wasn't open. She was sent from there to Burnett Middle School in Seffner, where, again, she was turned away.

In the front office of Burnett, Olivares broke down weeping. "I am so frustrated," she said through her tears.

Workers there told her to go to back to Marshall. "I drove all this way," she said. "Marshall is three miles from my home."

According to Dennis LeMonde, spokesman for emergency operations, there was confusion at one point. People who showed up at Burnett were being told they were not serving food, and this was sometimes taken to mean the shelter was closed. But it was accepting people, and continued to take in new people late into Saturday night.

More than 3,000 people had already checked into shelters by 9 p.m. Officials were discussing opening more shelters Saturday night.

Times staff writer Bill Varian contributed to this report.