In the middle of the night . . .

[Krissa]

My weather alarm radio went off at 5am - tornado watch. The weather was about to be insane outside. Normally when there is severe weather I have everything ready before the storm but at 5am I was NOT ready. I had about 10 min before the storm hit.

I sent my hubby after the three cats with crates, leashed the dog and kept her with me. It took me forever to get Zander my Californian into his crate - he must have known I was scared. He got past me, it was horrible. All this time the wind and the lightening was insane.

We all eventually got in the basement safe and sound and waited for the storm to pass. No tornado but it is better safe and already in the basement than running around at the last minute. I am so glad I keep a bag in the basement with extra pet food/water and medicines - it was bad enough getting all the pets down there in time.

So does anyone else have a pet evacuation plan for floods/fire or tornadoes? Storms at night are so scary because I had no idea if there was a tornado out there or not - the wind was bad. My neighbor lost his trampoline, ended up 6 houses down the street.

 

[SablePoint]

I would never let pets have no shelter when the threat of a tornado. They stay with me in in kennels the bathroom. The dogs are chained to the toilet. When I had 3 rabbits I didn't have enough kennels and enough room for 1 one of the cages so I lined the inside of the cage with pillows and a put a blanket on top of it.
During a tornado warning, take down pictures and any hanging decore of the walls and take down the shower hose to prevent being hit with.
If you don't have any kennels for dogs: Since dogs don't know to cover their head and use pillows and blankets to cover their body(even if you try to do that to them, they'll most likely just shake it off), at least put a helmet on their head or try to tie a pillow around them.

This is if you don't can't take better shelter like don't have a cellar or basement and must take shelter in a closet, bathroom, or interior room in a hall way(like I have to do).

We had a tornado watch today but all we got is rain and wind(still raining, not much wind).

I remember we had this nasty storm one time and it took the umbrella from our table, over the roof, into our front yard as it flew all around. Still surprised how wind could suck the umbrella out!

Last year my dad got stuck into tornado while he was driving home. His truck still has dents and scrapes on it. Lucky he was ok!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

the worst that's happened to us was 12 inches of snow two years ago, so no plans currently in place.

 

[Krissa]

Last night really got me thinking about my emergency plans. We do drills but we obviously do not do enough. The early morning hour was enough to completely throw me off the game plan.

One good thing about dogs (at least my dog) as opposed to my other pets is when the dog is scared she comes to me. When the cats/rabbit are scared they hide. At least Zander is only hiding in his cage, the cats can hide anywhere.

I have a fire evacuation plan for my husband and I with a list that tells the order which he should try to save the pets. I love all my animals but in the case of a fire, it may be impossible to rescue the cats.

I keep all the crates in the middle of the house in the laundry room and there is a dog leash at each door. In case of a fire I have told him to grab the dog and drag her with him and save the animals in this order:

1)Onxyia (oldest cat)
2)Malygos (male cat)
3)Zander (rabbit)
4)Keri (youngest cat)

I love Malgos the best but honestly Onxyia is more likely to be found as she comes when you call. Zander is afraid of my husband and Keri is very skiddish and always hides. In a fire my husband alone would probably only be able to save the dog. If we both were there I could probably get the rabbit and Onyxia.

We run mock drills with the fire alarms going off in the spring and the fall, at first the cats would hide when we set them off, now they just sit around and stare at the ceiling. Hopefully if there is a real fire they will not be afraid of the fire alarms and we will be able to find everyone fast.

One more note: I have a dolly that has the 4 crates attached to it stacked on top of each other and bungied down. This dolly also has a dog leash tied to it and a backpack of emergency supplies next to it. I can wheel the dolly with the crates and get each animal in its crate and get them outside pretty quick - in optimal situations while wearing the backpack. I alone can evacuate all my pets this way without having to carry crates out of the house two by two.I don't want to run outside with a cat in my arms and have it get scared by a fire truck and escape.

 

[Violet23]

There has been the freak tornado around my area, but hasnt been a major storm to compare with that for a long time *knock on wood*