For the roughly 250 people who live in the most mobile of homes in Broward County -- Tent City in Fort Lauderdale -- evacuation began early Thursday.
As a mandatory evacuation order for mobile homes was issued, city workers arrived at the camp off Broward Boulevard and asked residents to pack their belongings and fold their cots.
It didn't take long.
Residents neatly took down their cots without complaint and patiently waited for evacuation buses to take them to Dillard High School's shelter -- and their belongings to storage.
``All I had was the blankets that I sleep on,'' said Jerry Malloy, 56, who unmade his bed -- in all senses of the word -- and waited, his garbage bag of bedding at his feet.
Tearing down the makeshift shelter seemed a reasonable decision to him.
``There's no sense taking any foolish chances,'' he said. Once all the cots and possessions were cleared away, Fort Lauderdale city workers began taking down the tents and poles, said Horace McHugh, assistant to the city manager.
They finished by midafternoon Thursday, long before strong winds were due.
After the storm, it could take a few days for city workers to replace the canvas-and-wood tents, since the same workers who will be charged with cleanup will be responsible for rebuilding the tents, McHugh said. If the tents are not reassembled, residents will be allowed to stay in emergency shelters.
Some Tent City residents said they might have tried to stick it out there if Fort Lauderdale had not disassembled the tents. ``I've been through a tropical depression here,'' said a 47-year-old man who identified himself as Clive.
Gesturing toward the reinforced canvas that makes up the shelter's roof, he added, ``it just wobbled and you got wet.''
Tent City residents are accustomed to moving. They evacuate during cold weather, although the structure remains intact, and twice a week they must clear out the tents for cleaning, said Gary Canevari, municipal operations supervisor, who oversees th e site.
Although four walls might seem a step up from Tent City, some of the residents questioned how comfortable staying in a shelter would be. ``I don't want to sleep on a cement floor,'' said Hugh Sweeney, 70. ``At my age, my bones are brittle. I thought maybe they'd have arrangements for a 70-year-old besides sleeping on the floor.'' Not everyone planned to accept the offer of shelter. James Graham, who has lived in South Florida for 53 years, went to a shelter during Hurricane Andrew. This storm might not warrant such caution, he said. ``I'll tell you what, I'd rather go on the beach and be in the storm,'' Graham said.
Patrick, 41, said he and many other homeless are used to facing the elements.
``We're street strong, we're tough, tougher than most males in a lot of ways,'' he said. ``I might even rough it. All my life it's been that way.
It's a challenge to see what can happen and survive the storm.'' But others said they understood and appreciated the decision to evacuate.
``I'm sure they made the right decision,'' said Mitzie Young, who has lived in Tent City off and on for a year. ``If nothing else, we had practice for an emergency.''