El Pasoans working in Florida take shelter, brace for Hurricane Irma

As hurricane Irma strikes the key west, some El Pasoans in the sunshine state have already evacuated and are taking shelter in Orlando. They’re now preparing as the storm is expected to make a second landfall later Sunday.

Alonso Moreno is a UTEP graduate now working in Orlando. Moreno video chatted with ABC-7 Sunday morning.

“We’re ready, we prepare for the worst but are hoping for the best,” he said.

His windows are blocked with mattresses to protect his home from strong winds. He also has a sleeping area, a grill to cook and supplies that’ll last the next few days. He says he is not in an evacuation zone and chose to stay because most models are showing Orlando will see category 2 or category 3 winds. But that means winds of possibly 80 mile per hour. Officials across the state have imposed curfews, ordering people along the southeast coast to remain home until further notice.

Moreno said some of his friends in Miami have had to evacuate and are now staying with him.

His friend Maria Esquinca was one of the evacuees. She took pictures at a Miami Walmart before she left. The shelves were empty with barely any bread. There was no water. In Orlando, it’s much the same.

“Food did not start going scare until yesterday,” Moreno said. “We did one final run to cook more meals, have them ready in case we lost power.”

Outside Moreno’s home Sunday morning there was a little bit a rain. But like him, his neighbors have decided to stay. Now, they wait.

“Uncertainty is kind of what’s getting to us,” Moreno said. “A part of me wishes the storm was already here just to get through it. Another part wishes it would just go west.”

Disney World, which is near where Morneo lives, is closed Sunday and Monday. Resort hotels are staying open. Brevard County is also under tornado watch, according to the National Weather Service.