WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — When Helen Chouinard paid for her purchases in a chain store last month, the cashier gave her a discount coupon.  

 

"Can I use this in any of your stores?" Chouinard said. "I'm a refugee from Georgia."

 

Chouinard, age 86, fled from her home on Jekyll Island on Sept. 8 to escape the wrath of Hurricane Irma. As she locked her front door, she did not know when she would come back or if she would have a home to come back to. 

 

A native of Worcester's West Side, Chouinard became familiar with the Berkshires through visiting an aunt and uncle who lived in the Spruces Mobile Home Park.  "And I began camping out at Windsor Lake, seasonally," she said.

 

Since moving to Jekyll Island some 21 years ago, Chouinard had maintained strong ties to the Berkshires and went to her daughter's home in Adams as the hurricane approached.

 

"Next, I'm going to my other daughter in Framingham, and a friend in New York wants me to visit," the octogenarian said. "We have a big extended family and church family, and we all look after each. I have a smart phone and have been getting calls from everyone, asking how I'm doing, and offering help." 

 

She'd watched as Irma, the first Category 5 hurricane of the season, headed for Jekyll Island after rampaging across the Caribbean. The historic island, largely a nature preserve and vacation spot, is connected to mainland Georgia by a single causeway. 

 

It was announced on Sept. 7 that a mandatory evacuation order would go into effect the next day, the very day Chouinard drove away from her home.    

 

"I have a dog to consider, Sam, a dachshund.  He's my baby, and I and wanted to leave under my own power," she said.

 

As Chouinard was speaking, Sam was at a groomer's.  

 

"My daughter said he should have a bath, and she offered to pay for it," the evacuee said. "I live on a shoe string. I do illustrations, drive people to the airport, do elder care if I feel up to it. The less you have the happier you are. I learned that as I got older. If I knew that when I was young, I would have had a different life."

 

Despite her own troubles, Chouinard was going to visit a friend in Williamstown Commons before fetching Sam. 

 

Until Irma sort of took control of her life, she had intended to visit her family and friends in the Northeast later this year.  

 

"Preparing to go visiting is very different than preparing to evacuate," said Chouinard who showed no signs of the stress she has endured. "I spent all day Thursday getting ready to leave Jekyll Bay. I put my walker, lounge chair, important papers and my three-wheel, 27-speed recumbent trike in the car. I ride all over Jekyll Island on that trike. The island is one mile wide and seven miles long, and has no traffic lights."

 

Chouinard said neighbors helped her put her bed and other furniture up high to hopefully prevent damage from flooding. 

 

"Some of them were evacuating and some, like my landlord, who have generators, were staying," she said. "We'll be without power for a while, and until the causeway is re-opened, we can't get back anyway."

 

A former school bus driver, Chouinard said that Friday the roads were crowded with evacuees and by evening she had only traveled 100 miles. 

 

"I stopped at a motel — it cost $74 for a room and was not in the least great," she said. "The next night I stayed at a Hotel 6 for $56. It was nice and clean." Her last day on the road, Sunday, Sept. 10, she drove 14 hours.

 

The Irma hit the Georgia coast that day, downgraded to a tropical storm but hammering the island with sustained winds over more than eight hours. The Florida Times-Union reported hundreds of trees were downed, beach crossovers wiped out and at least seven water main breaks. 

 

The causeway was closed for a few days and there was limited access to the island.

 

"I've been able to keep track of what is happening back home. Jekyll has a Facebook page. From what I can see the roof over my duplex, which was replaced about a year ago, is OK, but the roof next to mine is just about gone. I lost a tree, but it was an ugly tree and I didn't like raking the leaves," she said and then added reverently, "God is good."