KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The residents at the Good Samaritan Society Village are now back at home after a mandatory evacuation.

Some seniors were not very happy they had to leave, especially given that Central Florida was not hit as hard as it was feared from earlier projections. But administration at the Good Samaritan Society Kissimmee Village believe it’s a call leaders had to make.

Michi and Jeff Haynes have been living at Good Samaritan Society Kissimmee Village for a couple of years. Jeff is a West Palm Beach native and decided they would ride out the storm at Good Samaritan, but now he’s glad they can truly breathe a sigh of relief.

“I didn’t think this was going to be as severe… I lucked out,” he expressed.

They are one of the few who stayed behind as most of the seniors living at the village evacuated. Aarron Woods, a spokesperson for Good Samaritan Society, said they don’t regret asking the county to put a mandatory evacuation in place.

“When we look back on everything we did -- we would not change anything. We evacuated our residents out of our primary concern for their safety and security,” Woods said.

Jeff said he lost his home back in 2017 during Hurricane Irma when Good Samaritan was completely flooded. He even shared images of the water damage he had to deal with.

“Moved into a brand new apartment April… September it went away,” he said.

Jeff is not a fan of the word hurricane, especially Hurricane Irma, but thanks to a hurricane, he was able to find love.

If there’s one thing he’s grateful for, in the middle of chaotic weather, is that he was able to meet Michi, who is now his wife.

“We’re together -- that’s the only good thing about a hurricane,” Jeff said.

The Good Samaritan Kissimmee campus did not sustain any damages, and utilities remained operational.