A Jefferson City native now living in Daytona Beach has boarded up his property to prepare for Hurricane Irma.
Mark Pulliam said he plans to ride out the storm.
"This is the third hurricane I've been through since I've been in Florida," Pulliam said. As of Friday evening, he added, "the forecast has it going to a Category 1 by the time it gets to us."
Pulliam, who used to own a tattoo shop in Jefferson City, now is the operations director for a private marina. He has talked with family members in Jefferson City for several days, telling them to not be nervous for him and his family.
"I tell them when you look at facing a natural disaster - tornado, wildfire, whatever it might be - I'd rather deal with a hurricane," Pulliam said. "I remember when the tornado sirens went off, we'd get dragged out of bed to go to the basement. With Hurricane Irma, I had nine days to prepare. I will take that over a tornado that can be on top of you real quick."
Pulliam said his family has gas and water to last several days and a generator in case they lose power.
"I'm not scared of the wind," he said. "After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, there were a lot of regulations put into place on coastal building. We're pretty solid. The problem I worry about is flooding because we are in the highest flood zone. If the water gets to the garage door, then we leave."
Pulliam said hurricanes in Florida don't stall out like what was seen with Hurricane Harvey in Texas, which is good news for his family and neighbors.
"We spent $1,300 on preparations," he said. "That includes gas, food, bottled water, plywood. It only took about three hours to prep the outside of our home."
Pulliam said having good neighbors helps because they've been there most of their lives and know how to use their resources.
"We'll make sure we take care of each other," he said. "The state has done a good job of preparing, making sure stormwater outlets are clean and supplying sandbags. It's been a little worse on getting gas because the refineries shut down from Hurricane Harvey hitting Houston."
Pulliam said that's the cost of doing business when you live in a place where others vacation.
"When Hurricane Matthew hit, we had $40,000 in damage," he said. "We did have insurance, of course. It is what it is. Right now, the sun is out, and I'm going to cut the grass one more time before it comes."