LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – Red Tomlin and Lyge Perry live on the same street in their Leesburg community, but the two friends are riding out Hurricane Irma in a concrete parking garage instead of their mobile homes or in a shelter.
Leesburg is Florida’s most hurricane-safe city, according to HomeInsurance.com, due to its low flood score and its low amount of storm-related deaths and damage. The city occupies about 24 square miles of central Florida’s Lake County and is home to more than 21,000 residents.
Two of those residents, Tomlin, 70, and Perry, 69, are waiting out the storm together from a Leesburg City Parking garage near the city's library.
They've been friends for 55 years but this is the first time they're waiting out a storm together. They brought snacks and hope to go home Monday after the storm passes.
Instead of heading to one of the area shelters the duo decided on an area with a little more open space.
"Concrete structure, yeah, it’s not going anywhere and I don’t want to be around a bunch of people laying 3-inches from someone else,” Tomlin said.
Perry said he thought the idea to hole up in the garage was a big secret, but others started filling the garage too.
"Those shelters are going to smell Avon and armpits, honestly, and I have COPD I can’t tolerate it I need fresh air," Perry said.
The friends plan to stay in the garage through the worst of Hurricane Irma Sunday and Monday.
"I hope it’s not more than a day. I don’t have a lot longer to live," Perry joked.