Hot news

Dublinbet

Dublinbet

DublinBet.com is an innovative and classy casino and card room. It offers classic online casino game favourites plus some of the best live dealer games on the net for January 2012.

Through the latest webcasting technology you can interact with dealers from the privacy of your home (or office!). The sounds and dealer action is live from the Fitzwilliam Card Club and Casino, in Dublin Ireland. DublinBet's Distance Gaming® is a 'must try even if you're not fussed for live dealer games - try the unique early payout

+ More info...

888

888

Do you find it hard to get to a live casino to play poker? Then simply come to 888poker, the best poker online room in Australia and experience the same thing with no hassle.888 Casino is one of the most famous casinos in cyberspace, thanks to some of the most eye-catching promotions in the industry and an ongoing commitment to innovation. Owned and operated by a subsidiary of 888 Holdings plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, 888 Casino was launched in 1997 and more than 25 million people have played here since.

+ More info...

365 Casino

365 Casino

Enjoy a huge selection of casino games at 365 Casino with monthly bonuses and weekly promotions, Play Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Slots, and Video Poker and win big at 365 casino. 24hrs a day, 365 days a year Safe & secure with excellent Customer Service.

+ More info...

Elegance Casino

Smart Live Casino

The unique thing about Smart Live Casino is its live casino games. It offers live baccarat, live roulette and live blackjack where the player sees the dealer and the action unfold infront of his own eyes. They have a fully array of games as well as sports betting. The site also comes in a variety of languages.

+ More info...

Hurricane Ian escapees find unlikely refuge at Florida casino

E-mail Print PDF
Hurricane Ian escapees find unlikely refuge at Florida casino

Floridians begin to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Ian

Floridians are returning to their homes to find destruction after Ian slammed the state as a Category 4 hurricane.

Cody Godwin, USA TODAY

MICCOSUKEE RESERVATION, Florida – Some passed the time playing blinking slot machines, swimming in the pool and eating at a 24-hour restaurant. Others who fled Hurricane Ian in trailers and motorhomes set up camp in the parking lot of the tribal casino on the edge of the Everglades.  

“The most important thing is we're safe,” said Ping Hu, 46, whose home in Sanibel Island was cut off by the hurricane that had left two fellow residents dead.

The Miccosukee Casino & Resort was just one of the countless hotels, friends’ homes and shelters across South Florida where evacuated residents, families and retirees temporarily holed up this week. 

Thursday night, one group sat on folding chairs and sipped beers to watch the sun dip below the grassy expanse stretching back toward the hurricane-ravaged west coast. They commiserated together, wondering if their homes were ruined. They read news reports, texted friends for electricity updates and debated when to return.

Mostly, they were just glad to have found this unlikely, but welcoming, refuge.

“This is the first hurricane I’ve been through. They told us, ‘We have no power. Don’t come back,’” said Greg Deem, 70, who lives in an upscale motorhome resort in Naples and also has a home in Ohio. “I'm very glad I’m here, in a parking lot at a casino.”

By Friday, some were checking out to return to asses the damage in coastal cities and residences further inland that had been flooded by torrential rains. Others were still unsure if it was safe and extending their stay, said resort manager Karen Whiting.

"People are worried. They don't know what they're going to find when they go back," said Whiting, who said the 302-room hotel was nearly full.

Lori Kearn, 69, and her husband, Raymond, 75, said they believed their home had survived near Arcadia, about 25 miles northwest of Port Charlotte. 

“There’s no power, there’s no water. Some trailers have been tipped over,” Lori Kearn said.

In the elevators, some displaced residents hauled bags of groceries to their rooms. 

'It's like a war zone': Residents start to rebuild after Ian's wrath in Englewood, Florida

In Fort Myers: Buildings leveled. Homes underwater. Fort Myers Beach 'is gone' 

Marco Island resident Kathleen Tuttle, 72, said this week marked the first time she evacuated ahead of a hurricane since her husband passed away. Previously, they had weathered such storms together at home.

"I feel very blessed having found this refuge," she said.

Those who had evacuated knew there was work ahead: Cleaning out condo refrigerators, checking on cars left behind, and navigating cleanup and insurance.

Hu, an accountant who bought a home earlier this year on Sanibel Island with her husband and two daughters, said she considered waiting out the hurricane before heeding calls for evacuation on Tuesday. 

With her husband out of town on business, she packed a small bag — figuring she'd be back after a night or two. Hotel rooms were scarce, so she secured one at the casino resort, located on what Whiting said was a parcel of the Miccosukee Indian Reservation.

Her children, ages 4 and 7, loved it. There was a pool, bright colors and lights. It felt like a cruise, she said. Amid displays about the Miccosukee’s history, they met other hurricane evacuees. For some, it was simply the first place they spotted after crossing Highway 41 through the everglades.

On Thursday, a sign posted at the front desk said the resort was suspending its policies to allow children at the hotel because of the disaster.

“Mommy, we’re going to stay here forever, right?” one of her daughters asked. 

She had no easy answer.

Sanibel's washed-out bridge meant no access to the island, their home, the school that her daughter attends and their belongings. She thinks her home survived but wasn't certain about the damage. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said repairing the road to Sanibel would take time.

Sanibel Island officials said Thursday that 200 households remained on the island during the storm and that at least two people had died following the storm. At least 40 were evacuated, they said, with some taken to hospitals. 

“It’s just really scary,” Hu said, who was weighing whether to decamp to a family property in St. Louis. 

Next to their trailer in the parking lot, a generator hummed on Thursday night nearby as the Kearns sat outside with Deem — who they said had first sauntered over after arriving and asked, “Is this hurricane happy hour?” They became fast friends.

Deem joked that, since arriving Tuesday, he “donated” to the casino slot machines. Raymond Kearn celebrated that he had broken even.

Maybe, given the circumstances, that was the best for which anyone could hope.  

Chris Kenning is a national news writer. Reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and on Twitter @chris_kenning.

Read more https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/09/30/hurricane-ian-escapees-florida-casino/8134582001/

You are here