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Safe, sound and home again
By LOGAN D. MABE © St. Petersburg Times, published September 27, 1998 Kristof, a 72-year-old resident of Timber Lakes Estates mobile home park, first met the doll on Christmas morning 65 years ago. "It was a Christmas present for me when I was 7 years old," said Kristof, who heeded evacuation orders and took shelter from stormy weather with friends Friday. "I'd seen it in a store window and at 7 years old, all you know is toys. I noticed she was smiling and had dimples and two front teeth. "My parents were not very well to do and that was the only present I got. I treasured that doll and dragged it every place I've ever gone." So it was only natural that Kristof, in making a mental list of things to take with her, put Janice at the top. "I value that more than jewelry, almost," she said. "It's sentimental. It's something from my parents. Kristof, along with hundreds of other east Pasco residents, returned to her home Saturday morning, grateful for the hurricane's near miss. Others, like Bob and Jan Dumais, decided to tempt fate and ride out the storm where they were. "We did fine," said Bob Dumais, who decided to stay in his Timber Lakes Estates mobile home despite warnings to leave. "It was bold and sometimes you wonder, but our main concern here (Friday) was the water." Parts of the mobile home park have been flooded for weeks and the squall lines of the storm's periphery that swept through Pasco didn't help. "I was watching the TV most of the morning and watched the storm track," Dumais said. "Most people here left. We loaded up the car and parked it near the clubhouse. And we had our hip boots." Dumais said the only time he questioned his decision to stay was around noon Friday when tornado watch warnings went up. "It looked ominous," Dumais said. "So we went into the house and stayed close to the closet just in case." Eva Oeffler, a Land O'Lakes resident, had been preparing for Hurricane Georges since Tuesday. She stood in the long lines at Home Depot. She bagged sand with her husband at the recreation center. She brought in all the potted plants that hang from the trees in her yard. "We were ready," Oeffler said. "And it was all futile because we didn't hardly get an inch of rain during the whole thing." Oeffler had recorded at least 6 inches of rain twice in the weeks leading up to the hurricane and feared that Georges would dump more than that in her neighborhood. "We got our rain long before the hurricane," she said. "But it could've easily been the other way." And if any more hurricanes threaten the area for the remainder of the season, Oeffler said her consolation is that, "I'm going to be ready. I really stocked up." Much of life in central Pasco was back to normal Saturday morning. Businesses with taped or boarded windows opened as usual. But some, particularly golf courses in low-lying areas, stayed closed for the day. Roy Burger and Ray Glenn, two retired duffers, visited Silver Oaks Golf and Country Club only to find the parking lot empty and the clubhouse closed. "It could've been a lot worse," Glenn said of the storm. "But it ended up pretty good." Although the course was closed, Burger and Glenn brought their own practice balls and spent the morning working on their swings at the driving range.
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EPHYRHILLS -- For sure, Marge Kristof didn't want Janice to meet Georges.
