Hurricane Irma Targets Tampa Bay As Residents Seek Pet-Friendly Shelters

TAMPA, FL - Tampa Bay shelters were filling up with evacuating residents Saturday morning as Hurricane Irma crept closer. A pet-friendly shelter at Paul R. Smith Middle School in the Citrus Park area of Hillsborough County began turning away residents and their pets about 10:30 a.m., and county officials were looking at opening more shelters.

Residents were waiting in long lines since the early morning hours to register their pets as the school cafeteria was standing-room-only with people waiting for their names to be called so they could take refuge in classrooms. “People are scared,” a county official said.

JoAnn Johnson, the middle school principal, stood guard at the cafeteria door, allowing residents to enter the hallway to various classrooms. Their pets had already entered the school’s gym where they would ride out the storm. (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Tampa Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

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She said the shelter was expected to hold 1,350 people, but that number was not firm. “I think we might be over capacity,” she said. "We’ve had to tell people who didn’t have pets to go to other shelters.”

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That was proving difficult for people seeking other pet-friendly shelters. A sign on the school cafeteria had all but one pet-friendly shelter crossed out: Bartels Middle School in Tampa.

Johnson said the shelter might need to feed the residents in shifts. Residents had to show valid identification to be registered with the sheriff’s office ensuring no felons or pedophiles were allowed to enter. The tension in the large cafeteria was palpable as people waited for their golden ticket to a classroom. An argument between Johnson and a resident ensued as the woman tried to leave. Johnson asked if her cat had been registered and the woman assured her it had.

“I have been waiting here since 8 o’clock,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified. She said some of her friends had left the shelter so “there has to be three available spots.”

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Some families were finding they had arrived too late. “They just told us that they are out of space,” said Mayerlen Gomez, who was waiting with her son, daughter, and dog. Gomez lives in Citrus Park, only a couple of miles from the school. “We live in a townhouse, but there are no protections. No shutters,” she said as her family left to seek refuge at Bartels.

Count resident Jacob Griego as one of the lucky ones. Griego lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Marisa, and their dog, Chloe. He and his family got to the shelter about 9 a.m. Though he doesn’t live in a mandatory evacuation zone, he decided to leave for Tampa to be safe.

As residents registered their pets, they were given a time when their pets would be entering the gym. That allows the owners to feed their pets and allows time to walk them. In the gym, dogs and cats were kept in separate areas.

A county official said the pets seemed to take all the commotion in stride. “The pets seem to have a sense that they shouldn’t eat or drink as much. They seem to go into hibernation,” she said.

PHOTOS by Patch Editor Don Johnson: Residents wait for their names to be called Saturday morning at the pet-friendly shelter in Paul R. Smith Middle School in the Citrus Park area of Hillsborough County.