Follow the Weather and Stay Safe …

hurricane symbolTropical depression Lee is moving through Georgia. The rain it is bringing is much-needed.  However, it is also bringing unstable air.  We have just come out of a half hour in the half bath due to tornado warnings. There is a watch for possible tornadoes for the remainder of today here in North Georgia.  If you are in the pathway for Lee, keep an eye out for severe weather.

Bunnies were not happy to be grabbed without ceremony and stuffed into a carrier.   We do what we have to for all us to remain as safe as our circumstances allow when those sirens go off.  They came back out thumping.  We have them fenced off in one room only so that we can get them again easily should we need to this evening.  If we have a next house, a requirement will be a basement for better safety.

Stay tuned in to news sources for weather updates and stay safe all!

Edited to be more correct, tropical depression Lee, not hurricane.  Regardless of terminology, the bunnies are still not liking being stuffed in the carrier when the tornado sirens go off. Second time now today.

Follow the Weather and Stay Safe …

hurricane symbolMuch of the Eastern coast of the US and Canada are bracing for hurricane Irene to make landfall.  I hope that those in the path are heading the warnings to leave or be prepared to be cut off.  It is recommended to be provisioned for 5-7 days with food and water for all in your household which includes any pets. 

The size of this storm is enormous.  One forecaster likened it to the size of Europe.  Even if the winds die down a bit, a storm of this size will be carrying a lot of water.  I am no veteran of hurricanes, but do know from watching reports of many that have hit the southern states that the water can often be the most damaging part of the storm.

If you have never been without power for an extended period of time, it can be worse than you can imagine.  My mother lost power for a week in the blackout of 2003 where power was lost starting in Ohio and cascading throughout the east and up to Canada.  In addition to no power, she also had no fresh water or sewer services.  The power outage took out the sewage and water treatment plant in her area too.

Losing power also means losing communications.  That could be the most frightening and dangerous thing of all.  If you are marooned with no TV, internet, telephone, cell phone service or radios, you won’t know what is happening and where.  Being cut off and not knowing what to do could be deadly.

So please take care, take heed, leave now if you are in an evacuation zone. 

Rabbit Emergency Plans – Tornado Plan Today!

Icons for Hurricane, Fire, TornadoWe are having an uneasy day here keeping an eye on the weather which is predicted to be quite severe in Georgia later this evening.  We are hearing this season already called the most active tornado season on record and the season lasts until July, so that is not good at all to be in the tornado regions of the country.  I cannot begin to describe what it is like to catch, cage, and move rabbits to a safer location in the midst of a raging storm with tornado sirens going off full blast. We have fortunately to date had tornado warnings, but no actual tornadoes.  So we have been able to get our drill and preparedness together without disaster as the teacher.

Everyone should have some plans in place should they need to relocate both humans and pets in a hurry or be able to sustain in place on your own for at least a week if need be. In addition to natural disasters, chemical spills or fires and terrorist attacks could lead to unexpected and speedy evacuations or an inability to be able to go home or leave home.

We looked at recommendations for what to keep on hand and where it was best stored. We don’t have a basement for tornadoes, but we do have a half bath and a room sized pantry side by side on the first floor that are interior rooms which become our tornado hiding places and storage for emergency rations and equipment. The pantry is large enough to hold the week of food and water recommended for emergencies and can also hold the bunny cage when we have to stow them safely during a tornado threat. We have always had batteries on hand and flashlights in every room, since we found out early on that sudden power losses and a roaming black rabbit aren’t a good combination. We have frozen cool packs that are kept ready in our original refrigerator that we had put in the garage, coolers are stored at the ready on top of that fridge.

In our half bath safe room, we have a weather radio with a battery backup, so that we can follow the weather to know when it is safe to come back out.  One spring season, a tornado came through just a few miles south of us taking out the power.  The weather radio on battery backup alerted us that there was a second storm with another tornado following just minutes after the first one ended.  We stayed put where we were and thankfully there was no damage to us, but many in the area lost homes and a couple of people died in the storm.

Rabbits hate to be picked up, so make sure you practice and get them used to it some of the time so that you have some way of getting hold of your rabbit quickly should you need to. Tigger and Shadow have slowed down some with age, but planning ahead to have them already in a cage or carrier when we know a bad storm is brewing helps a lot.  They are out running around now for their exercise so that we can have them calmer and caged in a safe place later before the worst weather is due to hit.

Here are some House Rabbit Society links on emergency preparedness: