South Nashville Mosque Takes In Irma Evacuees

NASHVILLE, TN — A Nolensville Road mosque is hosting 35 Floridians who fled to Nashville ahead of Hurricane Irma, News Channel 5 reports.

Eight families, all with small children, arrived at the Al Mahdi Islamic Center over the weekend, driving as much as 16 hours in an effort to flee the massive, 400-mile-wide storm that's devastated a swath of the state, leaving nearly two-thirds of Florida without power as it pushes north towards the Panhandle.

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"We put blankets on the floor, and we sleep here. It's better than staying back in Jacksonville and sleeping there and drowning," 11-year-old Rizgar Rashid told the station.

Among those at the mosque is a baby born just a few weeks ago. WTVF alerted the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross about the group.

Image via NASA