Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Severe Weather and Evacuation Plans.

It is Hurricane season and the weather is unpredictable this time of the year.

I hope that everyone has a disaster evacuation plan ready just in case. If not here are a few Ideas to think about.

  1. Make arrangements in advance to have your pets travel or trailer in case of an emergency. If you do not have any means of transportation than please ask a friend. Have several friends on your list willing to help you at a given notice. If you know a few days ahead of time that severe weather is coming then take the extra days and evacuate so that you have saved yourself and your pets.
  2. Know where you can take your pets to incase of an emergency. If you have large animals such as horses or other farm animals please contact your local emergency management authorities for information about shelters in your area.
  3. Make sure you inform your friends of your evacuation plans. Post detailed instructions in several places – your barn, truck, house, friends place any place someone can see in case emergency workers have to evacuate your animals for you.
  4. Put all your pets paperwork in a water proof bag or envelope. This includes diet, coggins, shot records, any known allergies, medications or information on medications your pet(s) are on.
  5. Keep halters, leads, collars, cat crates, dog crates ready and accessible to usage. Each should include pets' name, owner name and phone numbers, and emergency phone numbers.
  6. Prepare a first aid kit that is portable and easily accessible. Make sure that you have water on hand as well as feed, hay and medications for several days.
  7. It is very important that your horse or other pets load to insure their transportation is a safe one. Time is very important in emergency situations and seconds can count.
  8. Practice with a friend loading and traveling with your animals.


     

    If you have to leave your pet behind you may need to make a decision on letting them loose or keeping them confined. The information you leave behind can save your animals life.


     

    It is important to know your county emergency management agency number and they may be able to give you information about your community disaster response plans.

We all think that this will never happen to us, but it can, so please be ready. Preparedness saves lives.

These are simple steps to take.

1 comment:

Mrs. Mom said...

Excellent post. For someone like myself, completely new to the south and living down on the coast, hurricanes are something I worry about quite a bit. Hopefully though, we have a good plan in place for our 2 and four legged family members, including evacuation of the canine and human components to family in Stone Mtn, and equine to ... well... you! LOL

Kisses to my Eddie man there! ;)

And Hugs to you guys!
Mrs Mom