Severe weather earlier this month, on June 1, flooded 12 empty cottages and damaged 71 tents at Tampa Hope. The homeless shelter, which is operated by Catholic Charities, offers temporary shelter and other supportive services to residents experiencing homelessness.
Residents in South Tampa and Davis Islands also voiced concerns after the rainstorm dumped several inches of water overflowing the city's stormwater system, as Fox 13 reports.
"We were down 71 tents without even being prepared for this. It kind of just came out of nowhere," Tampa Hope director Eric Marrero said.
Ahead of a hurricane, Marrero said the homeless shelter has more time to prepare. Staff will pack up tents, advise residents to waterproof belongings and redirect residents to a safer location to wait out the storm.
That's not always the case with thunderstorms.
And that can be costly for the homeless shelter, Marrero said.
"With the way the weather is here in Florida, we could spend up to...$50,000 a year on tents alone," he said.
The tents damaged last week have been replaced for residents, but Marrero said it was a $5,000 expense at the start of hurricane season.
Around $3,000 of that was covered by community donations, after Catholic Charities posted about the unexpected damages to Instagram last week.
Johnnie Thomas, 74, is back in his tent where he's been living for the last month. He said last week's thunderstorm caught him off guard.
"That scared me to death because I was in the tent there and, you know, it's real flimsy, and I thought I was going to get hurt in it," he said.
Thomas said the storm ruined some of his belongings, including his clothes and important documents. He said it's made him nervous for hurricane season, which started June 1.
"I always had shelter," he said.
Being from Florida, Thomas said he's weathered major hurricanes before, but this is the first year he doesn't have a home to take shelter in.
He said he's grateful to be staying at Tampa Hope. Before this, he said there were nights he slept under a bridge on Adamo Drive, where he felt more vulnerable to severe weather.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. She's also a Report for America corps member. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
