Key West resident explains why he decided to ride out Hurricane Irma

A Key West resident said that, if it becomes difficult to get in or out of the farthest of the Florida Keys for the next several weeks, he'd rather be stuck where he is.

"If the bridge goes out and we're without supplies for a few weeks or a month, I'd much rather be home and on this side of the bridge closing than the other side, where everybody's trying to find a place to live, and fighting for gas, and 10 million people are trying to get back home," John Hines told CNN.

The storm made landfall in Cudjoe Key in the lower Florida Keys on Sunday morning. Monroe County, where the Florida Keys are, began mandatory evacuations on Wednesday.

Hines spoke to CNN shortly before that, saying he had an emotional attachment to the island. He said many of his friends are first responders, and they were all waiting out the storm in concrete structures nearby.

"We're in a concrete building in the fourth floor. Storm shutters are closed," he said. "So we're safe. We're above any kind of flood surge. A hurricane's not going to knock down a concrete building. "

Hines said in addition to safe, he felt prepared.

"We have plenty of water, plenty of food, plenty of hooch," he said. "And we're good to go."