Thinking about evacuation plans

[Stacy]

I am far far away from the hurricane warning going on right now, but reading about it made me think about what I would do if I needed to evacuate in a hurry. Of course I would never go anywhere without the dogs. I guess I would throw their food container and bowls in the car and we would head off. Worst case scenario we would just stay in the car and keep driving until something better happened. But it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to think about the best way to do it before there is an emergency. 

I hope that we never have to evacuate for anything, but I'm curious if anyone has given it much thought or has a plan? 

I hope that all the people and doodles down in Texas and Lousiana and all the places that are under hurricane warning are safe and stay dry. This doodle house is thinking of you from Kansas!

Stacy

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Our 'evacuation' plan is our RV.  We keep it full of the basics, but we would need to grab the ours and the dog's food if time.

[DonMarie and Picco]

One of those things that I know I should do but....

Every place has some potential for disaster.  Our big thing is thunder/lightning storms and fire.  We just had a big one - Brian Head fire (human caused) that was pushed N.E. of us but wiped out a few houses.  Also earthquake potential here.

I transfer dog food from the bag to a handled & covered bucket and it's easy enough to grab it but I never think about paperwork.  I should tape a ziplock bag to the side of the dog food bucket and put in all our papers we need. 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We lived in Orlando FL for almost 10 years, including the '04 hurricane season with 4 hurricanes in Orlando.  I've never been so sick of the word Hurricane in my entire life.   The thing about hurricanes is they start talking about them on the weather when they are still a week or two out.  So you have all this time to worry about whether or not to get ready.  We got really good at having a hurricane kit ready at all times.  Here in Ohio we mostly just have tornadoes ... they don't give you much warning, they just sneak up on you and blow you away.  However, last October we booked a condo in Flagler Beach for 6 weeks.  A day after we arrived we started hearing about Hurricane Matthew possibly coming our way.  Being on vacation with a hurricane coming and living in your own home with one coming is a completely different story.  By the time we learned that it was actually coming our way, the stores were sold out of flashlights and batteries.  There weren't any in the condo (there are now, lol) and of course we were traveling with the dogs.  FL does now allow pets at some shelters, but they have to be separated from you in crates.  That wasn't going to happen.  We originally booked a hotel inland for back up in the event they told us we would need to evacuate (we were ocean front).  After we knew we needed to evacuate I got worried about being in a hotel if they lost power and being stuck there for who knew how long with the dogs etc.  So, I ended up contacting a friend on the other side of the state and we ended up going there.  I originally hesitated because she wasn't a big dog person, but we all survived.  It ended up being 5 days before we were allowed back over to the condo as the owner wouldn't allow us back until the power was back on.    Fortunately there was minimal damage to our unit, but many homes were damaged and the beaches were filled with debris.    We did end up loosing all the cold food that we had just stocked the unit with when we arrived before we knew about the hurricane, but that was minimal compared to what a lot of people went through.  My point is, when you have animals you always need a plan for the what ifs.   You have to be prepared for several days or even weeks in some cases.  The big difference between this event and the ones when we lived in Orlando is the internet.  We sat over in the Villages and watched a FB live feed of some crazy guy driving around Flagler Beach in a Hummer, right up until the storm hit and then immediately after it passed.  We were about to talk with him and tell him to drive past our unit after the storm.  We could see that it was ok, so that was a big relief.  

You also need a plan for when you travel with the dogs in the car.  What will happen if you are in an accident and injured.  We keep a note in my purse and one in the glove box asking the officers to please get the girls whatever medical attention they need that we will be responsible for the costs and that we would appreciate it if they didn't take them to a shelter but rather someone hang on to them until help can get there and we give them contact info for who they should call to come get them.

So many contingency plans to think about.

[DonMarie and Picco]

Just had to giggle reading this....most of my family moved down to Orlando from Youngstown OH.  I think a good percentage of population is from Ohio!

[Julie and Charlie]

In the Pacific NW, I've been told that adoption of the PETS act has been very slow at the local level. In the event of a required evacuation or need for emergency shelter, (earthquake) pet owners who don't want to be separated from their animals should be prepared to be on their own. In other words, I have a tent, sleeping bag, and portable crate for the dog on my emergency checklist. We will sleep in the parking lot if we have to! 

[Stacy]

This worries me. I would never be able to leave the girls. We could rough it for a while if we had to, but I do hope the country becomes more progressive in this area. Pets are family. I could no more leave them behind than someone could leave their children behind. I know people with children who scoff and think that dogs aren't as important as kids, but to me my dogs are my children. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have children and a grandchild, and JD is still just as important to me. :)

[Debbie and Toby]

All good advice here..so much to think about, but this is the reason that putting together a checklist and kit in advance is so important. We always keep the bag packed for a couple days, on a regular basis, but I know in the case of evacuation we would need so much more. As already mentioned, pictures are a very good idea, as well as making sure Pet ID tags are up to date. So many pets are lost or abandoned after a crisis like this, so sad to even think about it. But making sure you are prepared as good as you can be, will sure help if you and your pet somehow become separated. This is a why a checklist would be so helpful, in the case of an emergency or weather situation it, it would be difficult to remember everything when in a panic.  I would never vacate without Toby.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I have given it lots of thought.  Currently I am holding (an hour) to change my flights again.  

This morning as I was on the porch trying to get connections in Houston, helicopters were flying low overhead to the fires west of us.  

It seems there are always some type of emergency.  My dogs, important papers, and photos are always ready to go.  Hope we won't have to evacuate, but know what we will do if it becomes necessary.

[Amy and Annabelle]

I lived in Colorado where we had wild fires, flooding, huge hail storms, tornadoes and blizzards that dumped 3 feet of snow. I also lived at the base of a dam. That was my worry was that it would break in the middle if the night. I wouldn't have had to drive far to get out of harms way. I would have grabbed kids and dogs. Now where I live I am not in any danger of anything from Mother Nature. I don't even live near any volcanoes. Now the only thing I worry about is nuclear war. Do iodine pills work on dogs to? If I finally decide to place that gas mask order,
I will get one for Annabelle.