When 36 year old Peter D’Onfrio decided to evacuate on Wednesday to Savannah, Georgia he thought he was being pragmatic and getting away from Hurricane Dorian and to safety.
“I knew it was early,” D’Onfrio said of the evacuation. “But everyone always complains that people wait until the last minute and then get stuck on the highway.”
After checking into a Days Inn just off Interstate 95 he settled in to wait out the impending storm slated to hit Florida on Labor Day. The next morning D’Onfrio was shocked to learn that not only had Hurricane Dorian taken a turn away from Florida but it was headed towards Savannah.
“I don’t understand it,” said D’Onfrio as he shook his head. “I watched The Weather Channel and did everything I could do to get away from this thing. It’s like it is following me or something.”
D’Onfrio is not the only one confused by the turn toward Georgia and the Carolinas this weekend. Pam Knock a desk clerk at the Days Inn is just as frustrated as D’Onfrio about the storms latest projected path. “They’ve got all these spaghetti models,” Knock said, “and they still can’t tell anyone where the storm is going. It’s like they don’t really know and are just guessing.”
D’Onfrio agreed and is not sure if he should venture further up the coast to South Carolina or North Carolina or just head back home to Miami to escape Dorians path. “It’s all a guessing game at this point,” D’Onfrio said as he stared helplessly at the Weather Channel as the meteorologist droned on about storm surges and flashed to footage of people filling sandbags, empty grocery store shelves and lines of cars at gas stations.
