Emergency weather preparation

With the latest news on hurricane Irma I decided to start this post in hopes that this advice can help more than just me. I recently found out that I'm in Irma's in land path. By the time it reaches me it should only be a tropical storm, but in Tennessee this time of year I'm going to assume that there will be tornadoes popping up in this storm. I have 2 days to prepare my rabbits and other pets so I'd like advice on quick preparation. Thank you to all that take part, and I hope others in this path can get a plan made too. At the moment I'm planning on bunkering everyone in one of two places. One place is my small house's bathroom. There are no windows, but it is a large bathroom being roughly the same size as the bedrooms. The other place is the crawlspace under the house. The only issues I have with it are the vents that would allow water in if it floods. So any advice on supplies I should try to get now before everyone else gets concerned too?

make sure you have carriers for all of them. the show-type ones are best, so you can put a little water bottle and food bowl and they don't have too much space to move around. bring food, water, obviously. plenty of hay - they'll be stressed and the fiber will help them from getting soft poops.

we only had 6 kitty carriers for 19 rabbits when we evacuated for harvey, but we built an 'apparatus' of sorts that was similar to a show carrier for the majority of them, and the rest stayed in the smaller kitty carriers.



it has a slightly elevated wire bottom, and a tarp underneath to trap pee. it's not fancy, but it cost maybe $30 and took my husband a few hours to make and put together for them.


but really just make sure they don't have too much space but can still shift around and get comfortable, food, water, and just try to keep stress levels to a minimum.

Lots and lots of bottled water, either purchased or drawn off from the tap beforehand. A battery-powered radio so you can keep up with what's happening if your electricity fails. All the usual emergency supplies of ready-to-serve food for man and beast, lighting, camp stove etc. Waterproofed matches. I know a lot of this is for people, but you and your pets are all in this together.

Water is the biggie. You and your animals can go several days without food in an emergency situation, but will die without water. Those lifestraws filters are a good investment as well as iodine tablets. That way even if you don't' have running water, you can at least purify standing water. Bathtubs hold a large amount (make sure they are full) as does your hot water heater and even the tanks on the toilets. We have a well so if we don't have power we don't' have water, so we always make a point to fill everything if there is a chance we may lose power.

If you have outside hutches and can't evacuate or move your animals find a way to secure the hutches. Either with ground anchors or to a building. That way, even if the animals do get wet from blown rain, hopefully they won't get injured by a hutch being blown over/away. Metal t-posts are cheap and you can hammer them good and deep and then wire the hutches to them. Use at least 2 per hutch.

Beans and rice are always good cheap staples to have on hand. They last a long time if kept dry. Of course they require a heat source to cook. Camp stoves (and fuel) or equipment to cook over a fire are always good things to have.

Some good advice so far!!!

I thought pretty long and hard about this......
I believe if I were threatened with evacuation... I would have everything except the water ready. (I have a camp kit with amost everything I need for camping)
I have carriers for my breeders, but I am sad to say, some of the rabbits would stay behind.
I already have the feed in garbage pales and a bale of hay and the feed on hand should last me about 2 weeks with only my breeding stock to take care of.
I have carriers for the house pets too and my dog travels very well.....

Camp kit:
Cast iron fry pan, cooking equipment
Grate for cookfire
matches, batteries, flashlights, camp stove and backup canisters of fuel
camp plates and "silverwear"
stay sharp knife and camp knife
tent, dinning tent, chairs etc.....

I think writing out a list with all the supplies would be good. (Prepper sites have comprehensive BOB lists, but you need to adjust these lists for your particular situation)
Then get some inexpensive plastic totes and filling it with all your supplies... as well as a few to hold all the water you can carry. This will give you a grab and go option.

I need to also dry fit my van, so I know I could get everything (everybody) in. Also, keeping everything together is important.

I've heard storeys of people grabbing ridiculous things in an emergency situation (like bananas) and leaving critical items behind (like water).

RE: tornadoes....I have no idea how you deal with these, but I believe if you have everything together and ready to go or hide.... you will be as prepared as you can be.

Edited to add: After seeing what some of you are going through.. I think I am going to take my own advice and prep up a couple of those tote boxes with a BOB for evacuation (minus food/water) - I already have a list, but I think if it is all in one place and I just need to grab it, coolers with food and fill water containers; it will be more effective for me.
BOB=bug out bag (prepper term)

Besides what has been mentioned...

If staying at home, tarps in case of home damage, well stocked first aid kit, lamps and oil, multiple can openers (non-electric), tire patch kits (because if there is damage, your tires will pick up nails), paper plates (water will be precious), large garbage bags.

Personally, I would add a couple of good books for relaxation.

*Andrew and Katrina survivor*

:yeahthat:

There speaks the voice of experience!