On Friday, former Jefferson City resident Mark Pulliam had expected to ride out Hurricane Irma at his Daytona Beach home. On Sunday, despite increasing winds and rain, his plan was going as expected.
"The truth is, it's not that bad," he said in a Sunday afternoon telephone interview. "We're on the central-east side of the state. We have wind, of course. Sustained wind and rain, but it's not bad at all yet."
Still, he said, there had been a couple tornadoes within 10 miles of his home. Merritt Island, about 40 miles away from his home, had lost power, but his was still on.
His air conditioner did go out on Sunday, but it was not related to the storm. A neighbor who is an A/C repairman, had evacuated. So with a dark, boarded-up home with no A/C, Pulliam was "tinkering around" in his garage with the garage door open.
He shares his home with his fiancee. His oldest son, Jake, 21, lives a couple doors down, but was staying with him during the storm, he said.
He expected the storm to get worse as the day went on, with the brunt of it coming after midnight. He was expecting 80 mph winds, at least.
"I think we will have some hurricane-force winds, but we're not suffering the brunt. It shouldn't be bad at all," he said.
Pulliam previously owned a tattoo shop in Jefferson City and now is the operations director for a private marina.
He's told family members in Jefferson City not to worry about him. Pulliam said he would rather deal with a hurricane than a tornado, wildfire or other natural disaster, in part because there's time to plan.
He used the time to do just that, spending $1,300 on preparations, including gas, food, bottled water, and plywood to board up the outside of his home.
He's been through two other hurricanes since moving to Florida, and said this one hasn't been bad as of Sunday.
"It's no Mid-Missouri thunderstorm," he said.