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Florence evacuees find refuge at Maryland shelters

"As long as you have your loved ones with you, it is always home."
Credit: Mark Wallheiser
The driving rain from Hurricane Florence in the canals on the evacuated Pawleys Island on Sept. 14 in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Hurricane Florence is hitting along the North Carolina and South Carolina coastline bringing high winds and rain.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Mandatory evacuations have thousands of people out of their homes on the East Coast to escape Hurricane-turned-Tropical Storm Florence.

Some of them are finding shelter at two locations opened by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and the Red Cross opened two shelters for evacuees: University of Maryland College Park (Ritchie Coliseum) and Chesapeake College.

The storm turned streets into rivers, snapped trees in half, and left hundreds of thousands of people in the dark.

“Really, I didn’t think nothing— that it was going to be this serious,” Rosie Faison said.

FLORENCE: Latest on the deadly storm

Faison is an evacuee from Jacksonville, North Carolina.

“I stay in a trailer. I’m not no fool. I’m getting out of there,” Faison explained. “You telling me it’s going to already be flooded and we already had floods? So, it’s going to flood on top of floods. And then there’s strong winds? I’m not staying in no trailer.”

The grandmother and mom of seven found whatever money she could and hit the road.

“We were also told to go as far as we could,” Faison recalled.

Faison and her kids had been sleeping in her van since Tuesday because she didn't have enough money for a hotel room and no other place to stay.

“But you do what you got to do to get your family out,” she said.

Faison ended up at the shelter at the University of Maryland.

“We’re offering them a safe place to stay,” Paul Carden, with the American Red Cross, told WUSA9. “We have cots. We have blankets.”

The shelter also had food, medication and emotional support.

Help was provided because coping with the ugly realities of the deadly storm can be hard to deal with.

“We —. Sorry. We saw the picture down south of the firemen unable to rescue those two people. They did their best. Then, they prayed with that family,” Carden said as he fought back tears.

RELATED: Firefighters pray at scene where mom, baby killed during Florence

Carden chose to focus on the positivity of people coming together to help.

The assistance means the world to people like Faison as they begin planning for life after the storm.

“Well, as long as you have your loved ones with you, it is always home. No matter where you go. But it is what it is,” Faison said.

MORE RESOURCES:

The Red Cross said about eight people have used the shelter in College Park, but more families are expected.

If you need more information about shelters in Maryland or want to know how you can help, call 1-888-756-7836.

University of Maryland College Park (Ritchie Coliseum)

7950 Baltimore Avenue

College Park, MD 20740

Chesapeake College

Health Professions and Athletic Center

1000 College Circle

Wye Mills, MD 21679

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