Lakeland hotels fill with evacuees from Florida's West Coast

LAKELAND — Greg Smith said that he and his wife, Malinda Smith, reside “on a peninsula on a peninsula on a peninsula.”

The couple live in Crystal Beach, a protrusion into the Gulf of Mexico in Pinellas County, itself an extension off the west coast of Florida, a state largely surrounded by water. That place of residence explains why the Smiths were in Lakeland on Tuesday afternoon, checked into the Hyatt Place hotel beside the RP Funding Center.

When the Smiths received word Monday of a mandatory evacuation order for the zone in which they live because of Hurricane Idalia, they were already in Lakeland. Malinda Smith, 49, said she made her reservations Sunday morning, long before the storm had attained hurricane status.

She said she made the decision based on her perusal of Mike’s Weather Page, a website operated by a man also based in Pinellas County.

“He knows what's up, man,” Malinda said. “He lives in Oldsmar, and he is just, like, ‘This is going to be big.’ So I was just, like, ‘OK, we’re going to get out.’ We’re super cautious.”

Malinda and Greg took refuge in Lakeland along with Malinda’s parents, with whom they live, and Coop, their 6-year-old goldendoodle.

The foursome joined many residents of Florida’s West Coast booked into hotels in Lakeland after evacuating their homes as Hurricane Idalia approached. The parking lot of the Hyatt Place was filling up early Tuesday afternoon, as the skies turned gray but no rain or significant winds had yet reached Lakeland.

The couple said they both hail from California and have lived through earthquakes and wildfires. Malinda said she evacuated for Hurricane Irma in 2017 and for Hurricane Ian last year.

“Just where we are, I feel like it’s irresponsible to stay,” Malinda said. “When you live in an A (coastal) zone, you're just going to use resources.”

“You make people risk their lives to save you,” added Greg, 51. “We both used to be paramedics. You get stubborn and say you're going to stay, and you make some people come and risk their lives to bail you out.”

As the couple spoke, children could be heard playing in the hotel’s swimming pool.

The Hyatt Place is a pet-friendly location, and another guest had arrived with a pair of dogs. Elizabeth, who only gave her first name, said she and her husband live in a part of St. Petersburg designated as Zone A, an area in danger of storm surges.

Elizabeth, 40, said she would have left her home even if authorities hadn’t issued a mandatory evacuation order. She and her husband fled their home last year in anticipation of Hurricane Ian.

Asked if she was worried about potential flooding of her home, Elizabeth said, “I don't know. It depends. If the hurricane stays on track, I think my house will be fine. If it wants to go inland a little early, then no, my house won't be fine.”

Janie Terrell was walking her dog, Xena, in a grassy area beside the hotel parking lot. She and her husband, Greg Terrell, had come to Lakeland from Spring Hill in Hernando County, where they live in a mobile-home park about 10 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

“We came (Monday) night,” said Janie Terrell, 58. “We didn't want to fight traffic or nothing, so we're going to come and stay a week and hang out.”

The couple said they didn’t face a mandatory evacuation order but didn’t want to take a chance on remaining in their home. They said they chose Lakeland because it seemed far enough south and inland to be out of the danger zone. Janie Terrell said they evacuated for Hurricane Ian last year while living in Ellenton, in Manatee County.

Janie said that most residents of their 55-and-over community planned to stay put, and some had relatives coming to stay with them. The couple have security cameras in their home and can monitor the feeds to check on their property, as long as electrical power continues.

In Haines City, most hotels rooms were sold out by 1:50 p.m. According to David Alvarez, who works the front desk of the Comfort Inn and Suites Maingate South, normally the 74-room Comfort Inn would have occupancy on a Tuesday in the off season, but with Idaila off the coast there are locals from mobile home parks and evacuees from Tampa checking in.

"There is a lot of mobile home communities close by and they are in a flood zone, so they usually evacuate and book early," Alvarez said. "And we are getting some people from Tampa. But most of the people are local."

The Courtyard by Marriott at Lakeside Village was also filling with evacuees Tuesday afternoon. Barbara Ward of Dunedin had parked her van and was helping her husband, Dale Ward, out of the vehicle. Dale, 70, relies on a wheelchair because of the effects of a stroke.

The couple, who live in a mobile-home park, said they received a mandatory evacuation order Monday and had spent the night at the hotel in Lakeland.

“I was afraid it would be raining, and I’m the driver and I didn't want to drive in the rain,” said Barbara, 71.

Dale Ward said the couple’s home sits about three feet above sea level. Barbara said her sister lives in the same park and planned to evacuate Tuesday morning.

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“She said there were about, maybe, three couples that were staying in the park that she knew of, but they all suspect that the sheriff is going to come run them out if it looks like it’s going to be bad,” she said with a laugh.

“In my condition, we would not want to really wait till the last minute,” Dale said.

How did they wind up in Lakeland?

“We just looked east of us, and that was the first community I saw that I felt like was far enough away,” Barbara said.

Michael Fay, 74, walked through the parking lot carrying leftovers after visiting a nearby restaurant for lunch. Fay said his home in northeast St. Petersburg sits inside Zone A, an area given an evacuation order for the potential storm surge threat.

Fay said he arrived around noon on Tuesday. He said he is familiar with Lakeland from attending the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo.

“I like the location and like the hotel,” he said “So it's like I’ve come here for a weekend just to have a little bit of a traveling experience. No problem leaving all of the drama of coastal living during hurricanes, and I just came a little bit inland.”

Fay said many of his neighbors seemed to “have friends in high places,” allowing them to take temporary residence in areas less susceptible to the possible storm surge. He said his house sits eight feet above the normal high tide level, and as of Tuesday the storm surge was projected to be four to seven feet in his area.

“I also think that the speed of the storm is going to limit the duration of the push into Tampa Bay,” he said. “So I think there are reasons to be optimistic about it. But I think the main reason I'm here is that I didn't want the storm to take a sudden turn and I’d be stuck. So it's a precautionary evacuation, really, not one that I’m anticipating any problems.”

Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

Paul Nutcher contributed to this report.