Hurricanes, Fires, and Fireworks – Oh My! RedRover Disaster Preparedness
June 5th, 2024
By Beth Gammie, Director of Field Services
RedRover Responders volunteers know more than most that summer brings the start of the hurricane season (June 1). You also most likely know that wildfire “season” has gone away – its no longer a season, but a year-round threat. And any of us pet owners know the terror that noisy 4th of July fireworks can bring. But what to do?
The first thing is to be absolutely prepared to take care of yourself and your animals in a disaster in your local area. What are the threats? Be aware, and scope out places you can go with your animals should you need to evacuate. You hear a lot about “go bags”, but if you simply have enough carriers for everyone (for a long trip), your pet’s meds (if they have them), and your vaccination records on your phone you’ll be way ahead of the game and ready to leave if needed. You can find more ways to prepare with our disaster preparedness tips here.
The second thing is to be ready to deploy with the RedRover team if we are called to help in a disaster! Experts expect a pretty active hurricane season, and the fires are already burning.
And we can’t go help animals in disasters without teams of volunteers like you, deploying if you can. Make sure you check the email that you have listed in your volunteer profile; and soon you may hear of deployments via text messages (make sure you opt-in to this when we email you about this later this month).
Finally, check out these pet safety tips for the Fourth of July from the ASPCA.
Consider keeping pets in on Independence Day, tucker them out beforehand with a long walk or play day at the dog park, divert their attention with a Kong or bone, and drown out the noise by shutting the windows, blinds, and leaving on the TV or music to mask the noise. We wish you and your pets a safe and happy summer season!
