Natural Disaster Prepreation

[Mikey]

Another post i saw about flooding and hurricanes lead me to make this post  Sorry if it is not in the right section

Does anyone else prepare for natural disasters such as house fires, flooding, hurricanes/cyclones, or tornadoes? I used to live in an area where tornadoes would touch ground often, so it has been installed in me from a young age to have an “action plan” for natural disasters to ensure all people and animals can get to safety as fast and safe as possible. What is your action plan for disasters? Do you have any special items stashed away for specific disasters? 

For me and my boyfriend, we currently have two disasters that can happen: tornadoes and fires. For fires, we have the bunny crate right by next to their cage, as well as my service bunny Blue’s service bag that he can sit in. We also keep the bunnies hay and pellets nearby as well, so they are easy to grab if needed. We are getting together a first aid kit that we will also have in that area. If we cant escape out the front door with the bunnies, one of us would jump from the balcony (we live on a second floor apartment), then the other would rope down all three bunnies in the same crate (they can make do, but not with a lot of room). We keep a rope in the closet right next to he balcony door. Whoever was roping the buns down would then jump over. Its about a 12 foot drop, so its not too high up, and ensures the bunnies are as safe as possible. The hardest part of this is getting them all into the crate. Their instincts have them hiding in the darkest possible corner when the alarms go off

For a tornado, its much easier. Our bathrooms are built with thick, stronger beams than the rest of the apartment. The plan for tornadoes is grab the buns and get them in their crate/bag then haul to the bathroom with our boots, first aid kit, and blanket we always keep on the back of the couch. We would then shut the door and lock it and wait in the bath tub for the alert to show up on our phones that the tornado has passed

[Bam]

I keep a carrier ready-to go, that’s all I’ve done for disaster prep. A fire would be the most likely disaster, I think. We’re on the 4th floor so jumping from the balcony isn’t an option. But now you’re saying it maybe I should get my dog a harness that she could be safely roped down in.

Flooding is unlikely here, we’re on a hill. But just a few weeks ago, we had a 3-day “water-out” due to heavy rain and sewage-flooding when all water had to be boiled, so it’s wise to stock up on some bottled water.

[Azerane]

I don’t have disaster items ready to go, but I know I really should, especially for Dory (parrot) who I can’t handle, it’s probably important I have thick gloves and a pillowcase to quickly stash her in if needed. I’ve had pillowcases recommended as quick emergency “carriers” for pets.

For the bunnies though, as suggested a carrier is great, currently I have my carrier set up as a hidey hole in their play pen, so it’s already assembled, except for the door which I would just have to slot in. Definitely wise to keep a bag with everything in it though ready to go. Mainly just their usual food, a bag of hay, a bag of pellets to last a few days, and perhaps an extra fleece or some of their normal litter, a bottle with water if they drink from a bottle. If not, a bottle of water is still a good thing to have, since you may rush out with water for yourselves, but not for your pets. If you wanted to fit more hay in a bag without it being bulky, you could use one of those vacuum seal bags to reduce the size of the bag so you could fit more in, though I’m not sure how well it would keep. If it was nice dry hay it should be alright, but more freshly cut hay may have too much moisture in it to be sealed in one.

[Deleted User]

PILLOWCASE! If you need to get out quick – grab your pillowcase (take the pillow out – serious, it’s so much easier….) and chuck your bunny in and get the hec OUT!

PS – I always have BOUGHT bottled water on hand. I’m the scabby mum who refills the ‘water bottle’ from the tap! NOTHING wrong with our water – my son just thinks it’s cool to drink from a PAID water bottle! HUH? So I usually have a good supply of ‘sealed’ ‘paid for’ water on hand.
Maybe food??? But again, you need to get your priorities right. If you genuinely have time, grab bunny food. If NOT, get OUT!
Just like us…. it’s amazing what a bunny will eat (even if it’s naughty) when your hungry and can’t access what you NEED in an emergency weather event. Just don’t be stupid about it! Do NOT feed your bunny what you know will cause them grief (PAINFUL illness and/or death).

Just imagine them as your own child and act accordantly – simple! NO one fails a child, don’t fail your pet. I have both and I haven’t killed anyone yet – good for me!

[Gina.Jenny]

I always have a few 2 litre bottles of mineral water, a small gas stove, some wind-up torches, tinned soup, biscuits and tonnes of hay and pellets

Power cuts are usually the worst we have to deal with, though we have had to live with the water switched off a couple of times too.

[Deleted User]

LOL Gina we’ve lost water twice – GASP! I couldn’t was my hands! Good grief!  Serious! Forget Henry, I needed to wash my hands.  

PS! Henry always has water (unless I’m washing my hands….. ) Lol!

[Odette]

I keep my two cat carriers and water by the door. Odette’s carrier is in her living space because she likes it. But that helps as I could get her quickly. The food and hay are all within a few feet. I have an interior bathroom without windows for tornadoes. Floods have been the main concern this year.

I’ve been evacuated twice. Once for Katrina and once for a wildfire in N. Austin. We have been through many tornadoes in Louisiana and Texas, hurricanes in Louisiana (hurricanes were usually downgraded by the time they hit Central Texas, so not too much hurricane worry there), and earthquakes in California. I’ve found my bunnies have all done well. My bridge bunny, Manon, and I evacuated to a hotel for a couple of weeks during Katrina. One thing to make people feel more at ease is that hotels will often lift pet restrictions during an evacuation.

But, I have been through multiple hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and only evacuated twice. They don’t issue those orders lightly– so while preparation is best, I’ve learned not to stress too much.

And, yes, if we ever move again, I’m checking to see which areas have the least disasters

[Mikey]

All out our pillows would be too far out of the way for a quick grab, but pillow cases are a great idea if they are closer than anything else Seems like something i should add to the list would be water bottles, just in case. I can always throw them into our bunny bin off to the side for quick grab if need be. We dont run out of water by me often, but boy do we lose power every year! We have a few small battery operated fans, but rarely stock up on batteries for them. I should add that to our list come summer, again. We always end up with a power outage in the city when it hits 100 in the summer, when we need the AC most lol. I did not think about earthquakes either. We get them here, but they are very small and rarely do any damage

@Odette
That sucks you have been evacuated twice so far! D: I lived in SC for a few years when i was yonuger, and i remember when one of the bigger hurricanes hit. Everyone was home bound for a week, and if you lived within an hour of the shore, you had to be evacuated more inland. It is good that youve been through nearly everything but have only had to leave twice, though. It is definitely best not to stress in those situations

[VivaLaBunz]

WOW the pillow case idea is awesome! Luckily I live in Massachusetts so natural disasters that will affect the interior of an apartment are rare. But for a fire the pillow case idea is amazing!

[Vienna Blue in France]

Can’t wait for Q8’s post on this – she’s got axes, automatic rifles and bows and arrows packed and ready to leave in a jiffy

For us Europeans living abroad, passports. Then credit cards and cash. It’s not so much ‘survival equipement’ as very practical necessities.
Things which are an absolute pain to get replaced if they go up in flames – the only real danger where I live.

If your debit card gets stolen/lost and you block your bank account – your money is blocked, maybe indefinitely !! I mention this because it happened to a friend of mine. I don’t know about USA but you pay for just about everything in France with plastic !

Have a stash of cash somewhere. Not a fortune, enough to buy you what you need or a taxi/bus to get you someplace else.

[MrBun&Daisy]

keep it coming people! always adding to my list of bunny preparations! We have 2 dogs who we just snap a leash on and a cat who is an outdoors cat. With her if she was in the house to eat we would grab her but normally she has her hiding spots outside. I swear whenever I open the door in the morning after a night of rain this cat is perfectly dry! This is the first time I’ve had buns to worry about so I’m taking notes! We’ve got the carrier- decided on one just on the basis that they are bonded and a scary situation would be more stressful without their partner- extra water bottle (and water) and a small container to throw some food in and a bag for hay! I keep a t-shirt in their carrier just so they can lay on that rather than the plastic bottom but would also grab their blanket if we had time just so wherever we end up they have something else familiar to them. Our worries are hurricanes, floods, and falling trees.

our bug out plan for that is to get the buns safely I the car and then if possible run back to get essentials. Luckily **knocks on wood** We have never had a tree fall on the house but we are in a new house this year which is unfortunately surrounded by super old super big trees that hang over the house! The animals come first then us! We keep a flashlight by the bed and one by their house.

[MeketatenBun]

For Meki I have her travel cage ready to go next to her pen with towel to cover it so she doesn’t panic outside. Her water bottle easily snaps on to her travel cage and her food is all in a basket that I could just throw on top and carry off. Meki’s so chill with being handled that it would be so easy to scoop her up and plop her in her cage in a matter of seconds.

For Schubert my cockatiel, we also have his travel cage next to his cage, with a small bird-designated hand towel. If there’s a fire or a tornado, we aren’t messing around with him being flighted, so we’d be best off grabbing him right off his perch with the towel and shoving him towel and all into the carrier. It’s not pleasant, but he hates the carrier and has taken up to 40 minutes to get into it when we went on a trip once. Actually, I might take the pillow case idea and make it into a net incase he gets flighty during an emergency

[Deleted User]

Most likely here would be fire. We’re In a 1st floor flat with 1 exit door which leads into a hallway, Luckily the windows are plenty big enough to get out of. In case of fire buns would be put in carrier and lowered with a towel or some kind of sheet/ blanket.
The Rabbit carrier is always out in the living room (where buns live) with a blanket in ready to go. Food is in a tub with handle so easy to grab in a rush. The material rabbit run I bought for bonding is in the car outside (this wasn’t intentional its just never been brought back in but thinking about this thread, it can stay there!)

We always have bottled water by the fridge as we were without water for a while over Christmas during the flooding in the UK.
Always have candles all over the flat as the power goes off quite often (even a strong gust of wind can cut it off)
I do have cash at home if needed, not a vast amount but enough to get some food if needed

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