Emergency plans in severe weather

[Shakou]

So, we're in TN now, and we celebrated our very first week down here by hiding out at work from a EF2 tornado that ripped through town on Tuesday evening! Our dogs, were of course, back home, and I had never been more scared in my life. I wasn't worried at all about us, I was scared for them. We live in a trailer, and it would be like a toy being tossed against a wall with a tornado. Luckily when we got home, we found everything untouched and okay.

I'm a New England native, born and raised for 28 years in NH. We almost never get tornados up there, and very few times anything even remotely close to one has touched down has been a freak occurrence. Traveling back and fourth across the country, we've had to seek shelter a few times from them, but we were out of there the moment the weather broke.

For those of you that do or have lived in tornado country (or any other place where you get severe weather) what emergency plans do you do with your dogs in the event something happens? Our neighbors know we have dogs, and they said if something ever happens while we're gone, they would get them out of there, so I have some peace of mind atleast there.

 

[pinkspore]

We live on the coast of central California, where weather is a thing that happens to other people. Our two seasons are "summer" and "on fire". Happily, we live in the worst part of town and are insulated from the brush fires by millions and millions of dollars worth of luxury homes.

We're unlikely to get anything sudden like tornadoes, so we can plan on having plenty of warning if California decides to sink into the sea. Our disaster plan is basically to get out of town at the first sign of trouble. Possible voluntary evacuation? We're taking all the dogs/cats/birds/turtles/gecko/newt on a road trip.

 

[Romy]

Around here are earthquakes and stuff, but with that sort of thing it's better to stay put unless a tree crushes your house. I just keep an extra 30 days worth of pet food on hand and several gallons of bottled water. The extra food is just handy anyway in case finances get tight for some reason.

My work tends to flood so we have pet carriers and food for the work cats in case we have to evacuate (again, lol).

 

[Fran101]

I think in a former life I was a boy scout...well that or being from Haiti a country in constant state of war or disaster it has made me always prepared for the worst lol You should see the contents of my "go bag" lol

- there are stickers on the door saying there are animals in the house
- Merlin's "go bag" contains bottled water, pet first aid kid, pawz booties, a jacket, and freeze dried dog food (just because it's lighter and he needs less once you add water), collapsible bowls and..
- A folder is kept in the bag with all his medical records/shots records plus in the front is a picture, copy of my drivers license, microchip and basic info/emergency contacts
- In the city you need to register you and your animals in advance to emergency shelters, so we do
- He ALWAYS has city tags even though nobody has them, so he is licensed and there is record of where he is
- His emergency bright orange gun dog supply name plate collar contains my full first/last name, our home address, my cell phone number, email, and his breeder's number (I assume whatever went down will not hit all the way in Canada lol). There is also a basic hanging tag and one of those light up tags.

 

[*blackrose]

When we were in Indiana, our biggest fear was Tornadoes. The dogs would take shelter with us when we did, and when I still had all of my pocket pets they all had a small carrier/tote they could be placed in to bring down to the basement during Potential Bad Storms.

With the dogs, I've also tried to make sure they aren't scared of the fire alarm. Cynder doesn't care, Abrams actually loves it. The cat will probably run and hide, though. :/ Don't know what I can do about that, though, besides know her hiding places.

The dogs are chipped, Histamine will soon be chipped, and I keep a hard copy of their medical records. We keep the car dog proof and the dogs' "diaper bag" pretty much ready to go at all times, but that is more because of the fact that the dogs go with us everywhere vs us actually preparing for something. LOL Both Histamine and The Potato (the Guinea Pig) have travelling cages that could house them, food, water, and a potty area. But again, this has more to do with my tendency to hoard cages than any actual thought out plan.

Down here the only real environmental threat is hurricanes. And I assume we'd have warning for that. If we had to evac, all of the animals would come with, of course, and we'd be heading to mom's so I don't have to worry about lodging/missing supplies.