Some South Lee residents ready to ride out Hurricane Irma in trailers, mobile homes

When Hurricane Irma spins over Southwest Florida on Sunday, Ted Kotowski will be riding out the likely Category 4 storm in his 1971 Banner recreational vehicle.

Kotowski, 57, has been living at the Covered Wagon Trailer Park off U.S. 41 in Estero for about a year. He recently misplaced his driver’s license, he said, and can’t get into a shelter without it.

“I’m scared to death. But I’ve got no choice,” said Kotowski, who wore a green Beatles T-shirt and drank from a can of Natural Ice beer Saturday afternoon. “I can’t get into a shelter and I’ve got no place else to go.”

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There are few structures less suitable for riding out a major hurricane than a mobile home or recreational vehicle, but some Collier and Lee residents are ready to give it a try.

The Covered Wagon park was mostly empty Saturday afternoon. A few evacuees returned for supplies, and several cats roamed freely. Lee County deputies have driven by, urging residents over their loudspeakers to evacuate, Kotowski said.

Kotowski will be riding out the storm with his roommate, Tom Coghlan, 29, who seems less concerned about the dangers of their plan than Kotowski. If things get hairy, they said they would leave the RV for the community’s brick bathroom building and finish waiting out the storm there.

“If it was meant to be, it was meant to be,” Coghlan said.

Kotowski said he’s most concerned about storm surge.

“If it does flood, that’s where we’re going to crouch,” he said, pointing at aluminum roof that runs between the bathroom building and the park’s community center.

To the north, in San Carlos Park, Bruce Taylor, 62, is planning to ride out Irma in his 1972-vintage home at the Sheltering Pines Mobile Home Village. Taylor said he has lived at the Sheltering Pines for 14 years. He’s never evacuated from a storm before, and doesn’t plan to leave now, either.

He’s anxious, he said, not scared.

“I’ve been through Wilma and Charley. This is not a major ordeal for me,” Taylor said.

Taylor said several neighbors and friends also are riding out the storm in their mobile homes. On Saturday he was grilling the meat in his freezer to pass the time. The main reason he’s staying, he said, is to protect his belonging from post-storm looters and thieves.

“It’s full of them,” Taylor said of Sheltering Pines.

If the park floods badly, Taylor said his plan is to climb the ladder on the side of the nearby Publix building. “My happy (rear) is on Publix with a white flag. I’m stupid.”

When forecasts had Irma striking the east coast, Ashley and J.J. Turano planned to hunker down in their trailer in Covered Wagon park and ride out the storm. Now that it is forecast to hit Southwest Florida, possibly as a direct hit, they’ve changed their minds.

Saturday afternoon, they were making final preparations to head to Germain Arena for shelter.

But they have nowhere to put their Chihuahua Tinker Bell. They said they vaccinate Tinker Bell with vaccines they buy over the counter, not through a vet. And without proof of vaccination from a vet, they can’t get the dog in a shelter.

“We’re going to have to leave her in the car, keep the windows cracked and keep checking on her,” J.J. Turano said.