For two days the homeless of Tent City slept in a place with a roof over their heads, protected from gusts and showers caused by Hurricane Georges.
But on Saturday morning their stay at the Dillard High School shelter ended as abruptly as it began -- they were told to pack up and leave on buses bound for downtown Fort Lauderdale.
They had no place else to go. Saturday night, the homeless again had to fend for themselves because crews arrived too late to assemble the tents.
Their belongings, piled in brown garbage bags, were packed away with most of Tent City.
``They put them out early because they wanted to clean the school,'' said Charles Sylvio, a security guard at Tent City who was keeping an eye on the rows of trash bag suitcases Sunday.
Tent City residents quickly found a dry place to rest their heads: ``the city parking garage,'' Sylvio said.
Some homeless men and women were outraged. Others were thankful. ``They had us come back here knowing they were not going to have the tents back up,'' said a woman who would not give her name, but said she was once a 10-year Broward County employee. ``Because people are homeless doesn't make them animals. ''
Ray Cuyler said he was among the crowd looking for a place to liedown in the garage. ``It was much better in the air conditioning,'' Cuyler, who volunteers at Broward General Medical Center, said of Dillard.
Dillard gave refuge to residents of Tent City and Broward County homeowners under evacuation orders during the hurricane. ``It was all right,'' said Allen Lucas of his nights on the floor at the school.
On Thursday, city workers arrived at the homeless camp and told residents to pack up. Most Tent City neighbors neatly folded their cots and bundled their personal items. Crews took down the four canvas-and-wood tents.
By 10:30 a.m. Sunday, city workers returned to rebuild the 200-bed Tent City community as anxious residents stood by waiting to make sure their belongings were safe. As many as 250 people stay there each night, Sylvio said.
The job was expected to be completed by Sunday evening.
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