Planning ahead

[Pam M]

Since hurricane season is officially here and so many of us live in areas that are likely to be hit, I thought it would be nice to put our heads together and start forming some plans. Things like places to go, ways you can help, etc.

We did some great work last year in getting donations, getting supplies out, getting things where they were needed most. If we can post what we might need, what we can offer and how likely we are to be affected, we can be a little better prepared.

I put my information below. Please add yours if you're in an area that might be affected. Or even if you're not but could offer help, please add that also.

*********

I'm in Northwest Florida, near Pensacola. This is an area that gets hit frequently so our chances of getting a storm this year seem pretty good. For those of you elsewhere that get hit, I'm able to offer shelter to people, horses, dogs and anything that could stay in a chicken coop or small cage. I don't have a lot of room for people but there's 3 hotel/motels within a couple of miles of me.

I also have a small generator that I'm willing to loan out and a big trailer that I'm willing to use to take supplies in to anywhere within about 3-4 hours from me.

On the flip side, if I have to evacuate, I have 4 horses, 2 dogs, 5 cats and a goat that have to come with me so it's not easy for us to find a place! And if I stay and get hit by a bad storm, my main need will be gas for the generator. We've learned the hard way that there will be no gas available.

[Linda Y]

I am in south westerly Mississippi, 14 miles from the coast, approximately. We already know I can get hit with a hurricane badly thanks to Katrina!
We have land and could feasibly take a horse or two if they don't test fences. Ours are still mostly bad from the last hurricane. There are no motels that I know of...maybe a couple on the interstate in Gulfport. The rest were destroyed. Boy, I'm not much help! We don't have room for people in the house, but can plug in a camper trailer.
They are predicting a catagory *6* hurricane this year...which I can't even begin to wrap my mind around...if we need to evacuate we will be SOL. 6 horses, 3 dogs, 2 people. And a 2 horse LQ trailer.
Our main need would be the same as Pam...gas and diesel for the tractor. Water if the pump were destroyed.

[Jasfino]

A cat 6? :shock: I think I would have to start looking for that place further north.


I cant understand how ya'll hold up dealing with the fury of the ocean.. yr after yr.

[Serendipity]

I could probley make most anything work as long at horses could stay out side could handle 4 or 5 on them outside,dogs ok if could be tied or in kennel 2-3 people for a few days.I am not in the hurricane area I sometimes get the aftermath of tornados but so far have been lucky from then(thank God) I live in south west tennessee 20 miles from Mississippi line and 90 east of memphis.

[DSDECKERT]

I'm in West Central Florida - about 25 miles east of Tampa - yep, we also can get hit pretty hard as experienced in 2004.

I'm a small place, could maybe take 2 horses if they could be pastured together. I do have a guest bedroom with twin beds, and two sofas. Other pets would be tough.

On the flip side, I have 2 Paso Finos (a boss mare and gelding) , 2 Alpaca, 2 herpes positive cats, and one spoiled rotten dog - oh yeah, most important - and my retired parents (Dad is elderly and in poor health).

[Carol Nelson]

For those in Houston, Conroe, Corpus Christi, TX, areas, I now have two large roomy pastures available for evacuee's horses. No shelters in those pastures, but large trees. Also four stalls available in the barn. We are about 150-200 miles inland near Austin, so we will get the rain and maybe some high winds but no way near what those on the coast will get. We are also on high ground so we have no danger of flooding.

As far as people...we will squeeze you in where we can! :smile:

PM or email me for more information if you need.

[SandyMM]

We finally will be able to offer some help! :-)

The previous owner of our new farm had some kennel-type enclosures - so we could handle some smaller animals. Our pastures are mostly already fenced and we will be working on cross-fencing several smaller paddock-type areas which we will be using to rotate use, but will gladly use to house any stranded animals! Don't know any exact numbers until we get moved in and actually get a better idea of how we will be dividing up/fencing some areas.

[SQUEAKS]

WHAT A GREAT IDEA PAM...CONGRATS FOR THINKING OF IT

We live just 21 miles south of the Georgia line in Greenville, Florida.
We have been fortunate to go through Cat 5 storms without much damage but who knows what will happen?

I have room for about 10 horses, a few dogs and some other animals. We always keep at least 2000 gallons of water on hand for horses and pets and another 1000 gallons for our use. We keep propane tanks, diesel fuel and gasoline but only for emergency use. We always stock up on canned goods and ice for the summer months during the hurricane season. Along with that we can get batteries and other supplies from my wife's store in town.

Anyone needing help can call us at 850-948-6496 or 850-948-6498 at the barn. Also you can send e-mails to Bob@EAPFR.com or VilcomON@aol.com

[Pasomom]

Thanks Pam for starting this thread, and thanks to everyone posting.

I live in central Florida, as most of you know. We have room for horses, dogs, people, various amounts of all....We usually don't get the hurricanes this far inland, but the past two years have been a contradiction of that statement, so I am not going to say it any more! LOL

Please don't hesitate to call me if you need assistance. We'll see if we can find you some help!
863-385-4539

[lalecl]

thanks pam i am so glad you got started. we will be in touch i need to talk to you anyway

[PasoPerson]

Thanks Pam for thinking about this!

There's an excellent site to put your farms on -or- to find out where to evacuate. The Sunshine State Horse Council created it years ago, but hasn't done the best job in advertising its existence.

http://sshc.org/evac/

I listed my place on there and keep it updated as changes occur here. Please consider listing yourselves there as well. The more the better for everyone.

Separate thread with my info on it is right behind this one, but wanted y'all to know about this evac site.

[PasoPerson]

Was a duplicate of following post, sorry!

[PasoPerson]

It's all listed here:
http://www.sshc.org/cgi-bin/webdata_evac.pl?fid=1063495885&query=County%3DMarion%26City%3Docala%26pagenum%3D1 %26cgifunction%3DSearch%26submit%3DSearch&cgifunction=form

Only item to add ... if we lose power, you lose electric & water ... but we feel we're all in this together, so don't fret too much!