Choosing to stay during a mandatory evacuation

[Colleen27]

I can't see a justification for not keeping your pet up to date on shots.

Money is the usual one. But the other problem is finding the records. Not everyone has a dedicated place where they're kept, and making sure to take them in the middle of the chaos of an evacuation is something not everyone will be able to manage. I could probably find our pets' records eventually... I'm pretty sure they're in my home office somewhere... but to be honest, once the licenses are obtained (usually days after the annual shots), I just don't keep tabs on the paperwork. And as a previous poster mentioned it isn't unusual for rural families to vaccinate at home, in which case there probably isn't a record that would be acceptable to a shelter.

 

[LYSE]

Money is the usual one. But the other problem is finding the records. Not everyone has a dedicated place where they're kept, and making sure to take them in the middle of the chaos of an evacuation is something not everyone will be able to manage. I could probably find our pets' records eventually... I'm pretty sure they're in my home office somewhere... but to be honest, once the licenses are obtained (usually days after the annual shots), I just don't keep tabs on the paperwork. And as a previous poster mentioned it isn't unusual for rural families to vaccinate at home, in which case there probably isn't a record that would be acceptable to a shelter.

I checked out of the thread a while ago but the vaccine requirement is interesting, we do titers and do not over vaccinate ..what do the shelters actually require?

Rabies is good for an extremely long time and is only given again due to local laws, distemper and parvo is normally good for life after the "puppy rounds" are done. Lepto isn't needed for most dogs, bordetella is ineffective.

Anyway Im assuming they won't take titers even though that's the most responsible type of vaccine protocol? If so that's something I never thought of and is too bad.

 

[LSUmiss]

Obviously this isn't always the case, but Wilmington is one of the spots hit hardest by Florence, and it's not the government keeping people out: It's the Cape Fear River. It's literally blocking the roads.

Some of the islands ARE refusing people who aren't residents or business owners (I understand they have a long-standing system of passes that prove "you belong", which are given out before hurricanes), but that's to prevent looting -- and, truthfully, if you're not a resident or business owner, what business do you have on those islands at this point? No one's going for vacation right now. If you're visiting a relative, the relative can meet you at the bridge and vouch for you /allow you in on his pass.

I don't think so. I have a good bit of family in Wilmington (and many of my friends and coworkers have family there too). Of those who chose to stay, finances were not mentioned as a factor. Not at all.

They say they want to stay because they want to be present to "fix things" immediately (and that's not unrealistic -- one of my family members had a tree "leaning" towards the house after the storm, and because he was home, he was able to get someone to take it down quickly. If he'd been away from home, the tree might've fallen on the house.) They stay because they fear looters.

But mostly they stay because they've stayed for previous (often smaller) hurricanes, and it's worked out okay, and they figure it'll be all right. And for MOST people, it will be all right -- after a couple scary-bad days -- but for someone, it's not going to be all right. Not at all. More than 30 people have died in this last hurricane.

I can't see a justification for not keeping your pet up to date on shots.

Yeah, finding and affording a hotel for an unknown number of nights can be expensive, but being injured in the hurricane is expensive too. Shelters are free and widely available; I've helped with setting them up (for tornadoes, not hurricanes, but I'm going to assume they're similar).

Looting is a problem in situations like this, but -- as you say -- insurance will replace things. They can't replace your spouse or your child.

I'm sure some families are genuinely making all the right financial choices and still aren't able to save, but -- truthfully -- most of us have some fluff in our budgets. Cable TV, eating out, lottery tickets. All but the poorest of us could put away a few dollars a week, and after a while it'll add up. Saving an emergency fund -- for most of us -- is possible.

I think you seem very unfamiliar with the population some of us are referring. We are talking about actual poverty. I don’t know about other areas but for Katrina in NOLA, the impoverished, elderly & disabled were mostly those left behind & many died. And even IF it could be argued that their poverty was a result of their poor choices, it’s too late for that when it’s emergency to evacuate. Katrina was an emergency. It was not supposed to come to NOLA at first. Many had stopped paying attention to it. It was late Friday night that it suddenly became an issue. Most ppl didn’t know until Saturday some time. Katrina hit on Monday. Many ppl had to scramble to make plans to evacuate at the last minute including my family. Luckily they had resources. MANY did not.

 

[LSUmiss]

I checked out of the thread a while ago but the vaccine requirement is interesting, we do titers and do not over vaccinate ..what do the shelters actually require?

Rabies is good for an extremely long time and is only given again due to local laws, distemper and parvo is normally good for life after the "puppy rounds" are done. Lepto isn't needed for most dogs, bordetella is ineffective.

Anyway Im assuming they won't take titers even though that's the most responsible type of vaccine protocol? If so that's something I never thought of and is too bad.

I was going to post this about vaccines but didn’t feel like opening that can of worms. But that’s exactly it, what’s “required” for pets shots is often in excess of what the pet actually needs. I vaccinate as needed. I had a 13 yr old dog that my vet used to just give the rabies vaccine to just b/c of the law. She said he didn’t need all of the others b/c he had been vaccinated religiously for 13 years & he just didn’t need all that. He lived to be almost 17. Luckily, he only boarded with their facility (if at all) so it never mattered. But, many posts speak to a bigger picture to me of how judgy ppl are. Ppl think they have it all figured out & they can’t imagine a scenario that is different from their experiences. Sure there are ppl who make poor choices, but most ppl are doing the best they can with the resources they have. To make blanket statements like “there is NO excuse” is just uninformed.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Money is the usual one. But the other problem is finding the records. Not everyone has a dedicated place where they're kept, and making sure to take them in the middle of the chaos of an evacuation is something not everyone will be able to manage. I could probably find our pets' records eventually... I'm pretty sure they're in my home office somewhere... but to be honest, once the licenses are obtained (usually days after the annual shots), I just don't keep tabs on the paperwork. And as a previous poster mentioned it isn't unusual for rural families to vaccinate at home, in which case there probably isn't a record that would be acceptable to a shelter.

I couldn't tell you where all my cat's stuff is. I know it's somewhere and sometime last year I tried to keep them together..but as to where they are now is anyone's guess lol. I think they are in our office as well. When our vet does the rabies they do give the tag part for a collar with the paperwork but I don't have a collar on my cat.

But I do think if you've done it at the vet more than likely you can call that vet and get a copy of the shots they've received over the years as part of their records. I don't live on the coasts so I can't speak with certainty but I would think if you (general you) actually know your pet would need medical records in the event of an evacuation and you've done it at the vet it might not be a bad idea to call and get a copy prior to the start of hurricane season and place it in a safe spot with other important documents you may also need.

I don't fault people for losing track of documentation as I've def done it myself...more like everyday lol it's a struggle at my house. But I do think calling the vet for a record of their shots is something manageable to do for preparedness.

 

[luvsJack]

I was going to post this about vaccines but didn’t feel like opening that can of worms. But that’s exactly it, what’s “required” for pets shots is often in excess of what the pet actually needs. I vaccinate as needed. I had a 13 yr old dog that my vet used to just give the rabies vaccine to just b/c of the law. She said he didn’t need all of the others b/c he had been vaccinated religiously for 13 years & he just didn’t need all that. He lived to be almost 17. Luckily, he only boarded with their facility (if at all) so it never mattered. But, many posts speak to a bigger picture to me of how judgy ppl are. Ppl think they have it all figured out & they can’t imagine a scenario that is different from their experiences. Sure there are ppl who make poor choices, but most ppl are doing the best they can with the resources they have. To make blanket statements like “there is NO excuse” is just uninformed.

I agree 1000%! No one knows someone's situation until they have walked in their shoes. And the thing with hurricanes is no two experiences are the same!

Everyone was blindsided by Katrina. It kept changing course, everyone had let their guard down and then WHAM here it comes.

The majority of people who did not evacuate NOLA live in the poorest area of the city. Does anyone think they really wanted to be at the Super Dome in the conditions they were in? do you think they wanted to be on their roof waiting for a helicopter or trapped in a hot attic?

On the MS coast, who expected a storm surge that would wipe out two towns and take a whole lot of another? Pass Christian was completely gone. Bay St. Louis, almost gone. Gulfport devastated. And I just realized I don't know the amount of damage in Biloxi but I am sure quite a bit of it was devastated.

There was no power for HALF the state of Mississippi. Trees covered the highway literally from the coast to the capital. No one expected any of that. When people say they didn't evacuate because they didn't think it would get that bad--they really mean it!

I don't judge people in other areas for not evacuating because Katrina taught me not to do that. Everyone has their own reasons and for them maybe those reasons are legitimate. Nothing is worth your life, I don't disagree with that. But its hard to imagine a storm so big and so strong that its going to wipe everything out around you.

Hurricane season is 6 months out of every year. But no one area is hit every year. NOLA may not have a mandatory evacuation for another 25 or 30 years. The only parts of our coast that may evacuate in that some time frame are the most low lying flood zones. There will ALWAYS be people unprepared for an evacuation.

Would I evacuate in a mandatory evacuation? Yes. But do I understand the hesitation for others? Yes.

 

[Southernmiss]

I agree 1000%! No one knows someone's situation until they have walked in their shoes. And the thing with hurricanes is no two experiences are the same!

Everyone was blindsided by Katrina. It kept changing course, everyone had let their guard down and then WHAM here it comes.

The majority of people who did not evacuate NOLA live in the poorest area of the city. Does anyone think they really wanted to be at the Super Dome in the conditions they were in? do you think they wanted to be on their roof waiting for a helicopter or trapped in a hot attic?

On the MS coast, who expected a storm surge that would wipe out two towns and take a whole lot of another? Pass Christian was completely gone. Bay St. Louis, almost gone. Gulfport devastated. And I just realized I don't know the amount of damage in Biloxi but I am sure quite a bit of it was devastated.

There was no power for HALF the state of Mississippi. Trees covered the highway literally from the coast to the capital. No one expected any of that. When people say they didn't evacuate because they didn't think it would get that bad--they really mean it!

I don't judge people in other areas for not evacuating because Katrina taught me not to do that. Everyone has their own reasons and for them maybe those reasons are legitimate. Nothing is worth your life, I don't disagree with that. But its hard to imagine a storm so big and so strong that its going to wipe everything out around you.

Hurricane season is 6 months out of every year. But no one area is hit every year. NOLA may not have a mandatory evacuation for another 25 or 30 years. The only parts of our coast that may evacuate in that some time frame are the most low lying flood zones. There will ALWAYS be people unprepared for an evacuation.

Would I evacuate in a mandatory evacuation? Yes. But do I understand the hesitation for others? Yes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Gulf_Coast

Waveland is between Louisiana and Bay St. Louis. It was obliterated. As was Pearlington, a little further north on the Pearl River. Long Beach is between Pass Christian and Gulfport-knocked out. The mayor of Biloxi famously said "This was our Tsunami" Biloxi there are famous pictures of the casinos sitting on top of Antebellum mansions. The "Point" in Biloxi was always a fisherman's village until recently. It was a very poor area that was inundated with water from the Biloxi Bay and the Gulf. BIL is a firefighter in Biloxi. They had to go house by house in destroyed neighborhoods and look for bodies and survivors. Will never forget the big "X"s spray painted on the damaged/destroyed houses in every town across the coast to indicate that emergency personnel had been by looking for survivors and deceased. Each quadrant of the "X" meant something and in one of those quadrants was the number of bodies they found.

So yea, every town across the Mississippi Coast including Biloxi and even Ocean Springs and Pascagoula/Moss Point and communities into Alabama were very much affected by Katrina. It's hurricane wind field was massive and 2.5 hours away in Pensacola, there were hurricane force winds-my kids played in the yard at my brother's until it was too dangerous due to the winds. We can not forget all of the towns in Louisiana that were hit by the hurricane, either. New Orleans problems were man made due to the failure of the levies. All other towns took the brunt of the storm.

The reporting and forecasting for Katrina was pitiful. Our local main meteorologist was away for the weekend for his wife's birthday. There were no "hurricane is coming alarms" on WLOX until Sunday.

I distinctly remember getting my info on the storm from the stations out of New Orleans on Saturday because before storms, I like to get a variety of information from many sources to make my family's decisions. Most people were enjoying a late, hot August weekend. The weather immediately before and after hurricane landfall is often beautiful. So people were out doing weekend things.

Bob Breck on WVUE in New Orleans started with concern late on Saturday afternoon. That's when we started boarding our house, washing clothes and dishes, etc. to prepare for a possible direct hit. Went to bed Saturday night thinking we were staying home. Got up Sunday morning and our local guys were now with it and alerting people that the storm had built into 155 mph winds and was increasing in strength over the wam Gulf and heading our way.

By the time we left Sunday late morning, a normal 2.5 hour drive to Pensacola took us 5 hours. My brother left later as his wife worked at a grocery store and could not leave until they closed had an 8 hour drive for a normal 2.5 hour trip.

Again, so much to personally consider when deciding to evacuate or not that I get why some people stay.

 

[GreatLakes]

Money is the usual one. But the other problem is finding the records. Not everyone has a dedicated place where they're kept, and making sure to take them in the middle of the chaos of an evacuation is something not everyone will be able to manage. I could probably find our pets' records eventually... I'm pretty sure they're in my home office somewhere... but to be honest, once the licenses are obtained (usually days after the annual shots), I just don't keep tabs on the paperwork. And as a previous poster mentioned it isn't unusual for rural families to vaccinate at home, in which case there probably isn't a record that would be acceptable to a shelter.

This is just poor planning. If you live in an area where natural disasters are a danger you know there is the possibility you will have to evacuate with little notice. If you live in an area where hurricanes can hit the laws of probability will tell you they may hit during your life. If you have a pet you know that in the case of an evacuation you will want to take them with you. Knowing these two things it makes sense to be prepared for it. Have any record you may need in the case of an evacuation in a single spot where you can just grab them. If those records include your shot records have them with you. Keep the shots up to date even if you normally wouldn't so you are prepared. In this day and age of electronic documents this can be as simple as a flash drive with all your up to date documents on it.

If you live in an area unlikely to be hit by a natural disaster you can be more lax but with the increased occurrences of wildfires I think there are very few people who truly live somewhere unlikely to be evacuated for some reason.

These are the things I made sure to think of when I lived in a place likely to be hit by a hurricane. I had a small portable fireproof safe with any document I may need and a complete backup of my computer just in case. It just seems like good planning. Does no one take the time to plan out possible emergencies? Do you not have fire and tornado drills with your kids at home? Every year when we run our business continuity DR tests at work I set up one at home.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Some people are just pigheaded or don't think a disaster is as bad as people think.

But there are plenty of valid reasons why you can't evacuate:

1. You don't have a car.
2. You don't have enough money for gas for your car.
3. A family member is bedridden.

etc.

There are plenty of good or at least passable reasons. Not everybody is a kook. As for "poor planning", sure, OK. Tell that to the person living hand-to-mouth. I'm sure they would appreciate your opinion.

 

[LSUmiss]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Gulf_Coast

Waveland is between Louisiana and Bay St. Louis. It was obliterated. As was Pearlington, a little further north on the Pearl River. Long Beach is between Pass Christian and Gulfport-knocked out. The mayor of Biloxi famously said "This was our Tsunami" Biloxi there are famous pictures of the casinos sitting on top of Antebellum mansions. The "Point" in Biloxi was always a fisherman's village until recently. It was a very poor area that was inundated with water from the Biloxi Bay and the Gulf. BIL is a firefighter in Biloxi. They had to go house by house in destroyed neighborhoods and look for bodies and survivors. Will never forget the big "X"s spray painted on the damaged/destroyed houses in every town across the coast to indicate that emergency personnel had been by looking for survivors and deceased. Each quadrant of the "X" meant something and in one of those quadrants was the number of bodies they found.

So yea, every town across the Mississippi Coast including Biloxi and even Ocean Springs and Pascagoula/Moss Point and communities into Alabama were very much affected by Katrina. It's hurricane wind field was massive and 2.5 hours away in Pensacola, there were hurricane force winds-my kids played in the yard at my brother's until it was too dangerous due to the winds. We can not forget all of the towns in Louisiana that were hit by the hurricane, either. New Orleans problems were man made due to the failure of the levies. All other towns took the brunt of the storm.

The reporting and forecasting for Katrina was pitiful. Our local main meteorologist was away for the weekend for his wife's birthday. There were no "hurricane is coming alarms" on WLOX until Sunday.

I distinctly remember getting my info on the storm from the stations out of New Orleans on Saturday because before storms, I like to get a variety of information from many sources to make my family's decisions. Most people were enjoying a late, hot August weekend. The weather immediately before and after hurricane landfall is often beautiful. So people were out doing weekend things.

Bob Breck on WVUE in New Orleans started with concern late on Saturday afternoon. That's when we started boarding our house, washing clothes and dishes, etc. to prepare for a possible direct hit. Went to bed Saturday night thinking we were staying home. Got up Sunday morning and our local guys were now with it and alerting people that the storm had built into 155 mph winds and was increasing in strength over the wam Gulf and heading our way.

By the time we left Sunday late morning, a normal 2.5 hour drive to Pensacola took us 5 hours. My brother left later as his wife worked at a grocery store and could not leave until they closed had an 8 hour drive for a normal 2.5 hour trip.

Again, so much to personally consider when deciding to evacuate or not that I get why some people stay.

I’ll never forget those Xs either. Just reading your description brought back so many emotional memories. And my family took 11 hours to get from NOLA area to Baton Rouge...normally takes 1.5 hours b/c they didn’t leave til Sunday morning.

 

[yoopermom]

Sometimes, I don't think that people truly realize how "poor", some poor people really are. I thank God that we live in an area with few natural disasters, because there are many truly poor people in my county who could not leave, short of being physically evacuated by some governmental organization. There are also poor people in this area who have a severe mistrust of the government, and would rather take their chances at home, rather than be in a Superdome type situation. Many don't have a vehicle that would take them hundreds of miles to safety, don't have enough cash to get that far, don't have a credit card, don't have a smartphone to research areas/hotels to go to, etc. They literally can't imagine *how* they could evacuate. So many things that we all take for granted....

Terri

 

[luvsJack]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Gulf_Coast

Waveland is between Louisiana and Bay St. Louis. It was obliterated. As was Pearlington, a little further north on the Pearl River. Long Beach is between Pass Christian and Gulfport-knocked out. The mayor of Biloxi famously said "This was our Tsunami" Biloxi there are famous pictures of the casinos sitting on top of Antebellum mansions. The "Point" in Biloxi was always a fisherman's village until recently. It was a very poor area that was inundated with water from the Biloxi Bay and the Gulf. BIL is a firefighter in Biloxi. They had to go house by house in destroyed neighborhoods and look for bodies and survivors. Will never forget the big "X"s spray painted on the damaged/destroyed houses in every town across the coast to indicate that emergency personnel had been by looking for survivors and deceased. Each quadrant of the "X" meant something and in one of those quadrants was the number of bodies they found.

So yea, every town across the Mississippi Coast including Biloxi and even Ocean Springs and Pascagoula/Moss Point and communities into Alabama were very much affected by Katrina. It's hurricane wind field was massive and 2.5 hours away in Pensacola, there were hurricane force winds-my kids played in the yard at my brother's until it was too dangerous due to the winds. We can not forget all of the towns in Louisiana that were hit by the hurricane, either. New Orleans problems were man made due to the failure of the levies. All other towns took the brunt of the storm.

The reporting and forecasting for Katrina was pitiful. Our local main meteorologist was away for the weekend for his wife's birthday. There were no "hurricane is coming alarms" on WLOX until Sunday.

I distinctly remember getting my info on the storm from the stations out of New Orleans on Saturday because before storms, I like to get a variety of information from many sources to make my family's decisions. Most people were enjoying a late, hot August weekend. The weather immediately before and after hurricane landfall is often beautiful. So people were out doing weekend things.

Bob Breck on WVUE in New Orleans started with concern late on Saturday afternoon. That's when we started boarding our house, washing clothes and dishes, etc. to prepare for a possible direct hit. Went to bed Saturday night thinking we were staying home. Got up Sunday morning and our local guys were now with it and alerting people that the storm had built into 155 mph winds and was increasing in strength over the wam Gulf and heading our way.

By the time we left Sunday late morning, a normal 2.5 hour drive to Pensacola took us 5 hours. My brother left later as his wife worked at a grocery store and could not leave until they closed had an 8 hour drive for a normal 2.5 hour trip.

Again, so much to personally consider when deciding to evacuate or not that I get why some people stay.

We left Sunday too and went to Jackson. I thought maybe we just weren’t paying attention because we did have a lot going on but it wa like we honestly knew nothing until then. We decided to head up simply because my fil was going and that got dh worried. We left early and took back roads and it still took us about 4 hours.

 

[luvsJack]

This is just poor planning. If you live in an area where natural disasters are a danger you know there is the possibility you will have to evacuate with little notice. If you live in an area where hurricanes can hit the laws of probability will tell you they may hit during your life. If you have a pet you know that in the case of an evacuation you will want to take them with you. Knowing these two things it makes sense to be prepared for it. Have any record you may need in the case of an evacuation in a single spot where you can just grab them. If those records include your shot records have them with you. Keep the shots up to date even if you normally wouldn't so you are prepared. In this day and age of electronic documents this can be as simple as a flash drive with all your up to date documents on it.

If you live in an area unlikely to be hit by a natural disaster you can be more lax but with the increased occurrences of wildfires I think there are very few people who truly live somewhere unlikely to be evacuated for some reason.

These are the things I made sure to think of when I lived in a place likely to be hit by a hurricane. I had a small portable fireproof safe with any document I may need and a complete backup of my computer just in case. It just seems like good planning. Does no one take the time to plan out possible emergencies? Do you not have fire and tornado drills with your kids at home? Every year when we run our business continuity DR tests at work I set up one at home.

In many rural areas here people have 5-10 hunting dogs. They vaccinate them themselves. There is no record. Lots of people vaccinate their pets themselves. We don’t because we board them when we go on vacation. The difference in cost is huge.

And again, there are a lot of people with animals like horses, cows, sheep and goats. There are only so many places to take animals of that size. And you have to have the trailer to transport them. Now, I don’t know anyone that would stay for their cows but I know several that wouldn’t leave their horses.

 

[NotUrsula]

I’ll never forget those Xs either. Just reading your description brought back so many emotional memories. And my family took 11 hours to get from NOLA area to Baton Rouge...normally takes 1.5 hours b/c they didn’t leave til Sunday morning.

If you haven't been to the Presbytere Museum in New Orleans in the past few years, you might not be aware that you can see those X's there. They now have a permanent exhibition entitled "Living with Hurricanes" that contains, among other things, a marked garage door that was taken from a home that was demolished. (I *think* that the house it was taken from might have been located in the Gentilly Woods area just north of the High Rise, but I don't remember exactly, so don't quote me on that) The portion of the exhibit that discusses the flooding and loss of life is very respectfully done and extremely moving. My kids, who at that point had never experienced a hurricane, were visibly struck by it when they first saw it.

(The Presbytere also has a large permanent exhibit on Mardi Gras, so if anyone reading this is planning a trip to New Orleans at some point, it's definitely worth a visit.)

 

[arminnie]

My vet in New Orleans where I board my dog requires a contact that can come get the dog in the event of a natural disaster. When Isaac impacted New Orleans in 2012 my DH and I were in Tampa Florida. My best friends (who had my dog's mother, grandmother, brother and sister) went to go get him. They then had FIVE dogs in an unairconditioned home for several days. I REALLY still owe them.

 

[luvsJack]

I’ll never forget those Xs either. Just reading your description brought back so many emotional memories. And my family took 11 hours to get from NOLA area to Baton Rouge...normally takes 1.5 hours b/c they didn’t leave til Sunday morning.

My bil’s father was in the hospital in NOLA during Katrina. My mother had been staying with him. My bil drove to NOLA to get her and take her to her sister’s in Baton Rouge. It was crazy for him trying to get there. He went in uniform and used a lot of pull with his rank to get there when so many were trying to leave. He left Baton Rouge and went back to NOLA to stay with his dad. He rode out the hurricane there. As did a lot of people with loved ones in the hospital.

Bil came home for one day and was then activated and sent to Gulfport. He didn’t see the horrors of NOLA but what he saw in Gulfport truly broke his heart.

He had not been long getting back from Iraq. I honestly think Katrina and her aftermath affected him more than Iraq.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Just wanted to share some good news.

80 dogs arrived in our area (12 earlier and 68 tonight) that were displaced due to the hurricane and will be kept at one of our shelters hopefully being able to be reunited with their owners though if unable to they will be put up for adoption later on. I plan on picking up some dog food and dropping it off at the shelter in the next day or two.

There's also a woman in the area who partnered up with a sandwich shop as a drop off point for people to donate pet supplies. She's supposed to drive down this weekend to the Carolinas and be there Monday (I assume she'll monitor road conditions) and because of all the donations of supplies she now needs a moving or box truck rather than her pickup truck.

Not so much good news necessarily just information relayed but personnel from 28 different states, including my own, from the national guard were deployed for recovery assistance.

 

[luvsJack]

Sometimes, I don't think that people truly realize how "poor", some poor people really are. I thank God that we live in an area with few natural disasters, because there are many truly poor people in my county who could not leave, short of being physically evacuated by some governmental organization. There are also poor people in this area who have a severe mistrust of the government, and would rather take their chances at home, rather than be in a Superdome type situation. Many don't have a vehicle that would take them hundreds of miles to safety, don't have enough cash to get that far, don't have a credit card, don't have a smartphone to research areas/hotels to go to, etc. They literally can't imagine *how* they could evacuate. So many things that we all take for granted....

Terri

I do wonder how many elderly people remember those pictures from the Super Dome and don’t want to go to a shelter because of that. It is a hard picture to get out of mind even all these years later.

 

[GreatLakes]

In many rural areas here people have 5-10 hunting dogs. They vaccinate them themselves. There is no record. Lots of people vaccinate their pets themselves. We don’t because we board them when we go on vacation. The difference in cost is huge.

And again, there are a lot of people with animals like horses, cows, sheep and goats. There are only so many places to take animals of that size. And you have to have the trailer to transport them. Now, I don’t know anyone that would stay for their cows but I know several that wouldn’t leave their horses.

If you want to take your dogs with you in the case of an evacuation then you pony up the cash to have a vet come do the shots. Can't help with livestock and horses but the majority of people that use their pets as an excuse have a dog, cat, rabbit, or fish. All of that is easy to plan around and having a plan around. If you have your pets up to date on shots, which I think is a mandatory part of pet ownership, it is easy and costs nothing to know where the records are at all times and/or to store them in the cloud electrically so they can be retrieved.

 

[Colleen27]

I checked out of the thread a while ago but the vaccine requirement is interesting, we do titers and do not over vaccinate ..what do the shelters actually require?

Rabies is good for an extremely long time and is only given again due to local laws, distemper and parvo is normally good for life after the "puppy rounds" are done. Lepto isn't needed for most dogs, bordetella is ineffective.

Anyway Im assuming they won't take titers even though that's the most responsible type of vaccine protocol? If so that's something I never thought of and is too bad.

I only have one experience with it, and they wanted either a current-year license (which requires proof of vaccination to get; our county does accept titers, others around me don't) or a current proof of vaccination from a licensed vet. Since licensing is only required of dogs, you have to have the vet paperwork for cats. And no one seemed to know how small animals were supposed to be handled. We were told proof of rabies vaccine was a requirement for ALL animals, which is silly since rabies vaccination isn't recommended or required for pet rabbits, but I know someone else who was told (about a lizard) that the vaccination rules only applied to cats & dogs. Fortunately for us, the situation that made us consider leaving home was inconvenient as hell but not life threatening (prolonged power outage in sub-freezing weather - we lit the gas fireplace, closed the living room off from the rest of the house, and "camped" in the one room we could keep comfortably warm). But I think that kind of issue is typical of the misunderstandings that complicate evacuation in an emergency situation.