Locals Ignore Evacuation Orders During Hurricane
DETROIT (WWJ) - Officials say Irene is still dangerous as it zeroes in on the Carolinas, but not everyone is heeding the evacuation orders. That includes a Garden City native who's riding out Irene near Myrtle Beach in Sneeds Ferry, NC.
Speaking live on WWJ, Jonna Bird said this is her first hurricane and she decided not to heed the mandatory evacuation order because she wants to protect her home. She said beside stocking up on water and batteries, her family prepared in another way.
"We took all the furniture, all the lawn ornaments, patio tables, stuff like that and stored it all in the garage. That was one of the things that they were really insistent on here, was to make sure that everything in your yard was picked up because of the winds, because once the wind gets ahold of it, it treats it like a projectile."
Bird said she fears her family is in the eye of the storm, but amazingly her power is still on, unlike many of the counties inland.
"We do not have a generator, we do have power and I've been watching the news and a lot of the counties that are more inland have all lost power, which is really ironic. I thank the Lord that we still do have power because the heat and humidity is so high right now."
Bird isn't the only one there either, as her neighbors are sticking it out too.
"I live on a street that's five miles off the coast, and there's four houses here in my neighborhood, all the neighbors have stayed. As a matter of fact, some of the neighbors, people who cleared their boats out of the water, they brought their boats over and stored them in the yard, more up toward the highway."
Bird said the heavy rainfall and winds hit her home around 6:00 Friday evening. Around 7:00 a.m. Saturday, she said wind gusts were reportedly reaching 95 mph.
"It's like a high-powered car wash, with the wind and just the water surging on every side of the house, just throwing it toward the windows."
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