Am I being unreasonable or are they being stupid?

[miste76]

I agree... your friend needs to get a crate for each cat, load them in the car and get out of there!!!
I have a question about these animal shelters that were referred to earlier in the thread... are they better built than regular homes? What makes them safe enough for the animals to stay there through the storms? I apologize, I've never heard of this.

 

[bsnyder]

Palm Beach County emergency preparations, as of now, include:

Mandatory Evacuations for Barrier Islands and lowlying areas begin tomorrow 2PM.. some may start earlier. School half day Thursday, closed Friday

 

[lulugirl]

Originally posted by tiggersmom2
STUPID!!!!!

If I were in their shoes I would sneak my cats in the hotel. I know I will probably get alot of flak for this but........this is an emergency situation.

No flak from me. I would not think twice about sneaking my cats into a hotel room, in fact I have and I wasn't fleeing a hurricane.

 

[FergieTCat]

I have a question about these animal shelters that were referred to earlier in the thread... are they better built than regular homes? What makes them safe enough for the animals to stay there through the storms?

My mom is close to 80 years old and lives by herself. If she has to evacuate, there's no way she'd be able to handle two cats by herself. We feel it's better for them to be kenneled somewhere where another person can watch them and take care of them in the event my mother ends up in a shelter.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Stupid, no. Not thinking of all the options, yes.

If it were me, I would certainly not leave my dog behind, however, I'd get him in a carrier , put him in the car and drive as far as I could and either :

*Stay in my car in an area out of the hurricane's path
*Drive and drive and drive till I found a hotel or shelter or kennel that WOULD take him
*sneak him into a hotel room that did not
*explain the circumstances to a hotel that normally does not allow pets, and hope that eventually I'd find one willing to let him stay for a fee

Please try to talk them into grabbing the cats and leaving. Hurricane's are serious business and no one should stay in one's path if they are able to get away.

 

[Rajah]

I've tried again, but she has some kittens and another cat that is pregnant, and she's just not willing to move them. So I'm going to be praying she's not making a HUGE mistake.

 

[mariethecat]

We had to evacuate for a forest fire a few years ago. I was at work when it was announced and rushed home to get my 2 DD's. We had 3 cats that I love dearly but there was no time to find them (outdoor cats) so I left without them. I am a huge animal lover but human lives have to come first.

 

[missyc]

So did the cats make it?

 

[mariethecat]

Yes-I still have them all. I truly believe in miracles because it was a fast moving fire and no rain was predicted. The next day it rained for hours and the fire was stopped before it got to our house.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by Rajah
I've tried again, but she has some kittens and another cat that is pregnant, and she's just not willing to move them. So I'm going to be praying she's not making a HUGE mistake.

You probably already have but could you tell her if she moves them, they will have a much better chance of surviving the storm?

 

[Rajah]

Originally posted by EsmeraldaX
You probably already have but could you tell her if she moves them, they will have a much better chance of surviving the storm?

Yup, tried that. Tried re-emphasizing how bad this one is. Offered for them to come stay with us (yeah, it's a long distance, but they could at least know at the end of the road they'd have a place to stay)

Oh, and it's no longer kittens and a pregnant cat -- her pregnant cat just started having *her* kittens.

Her attitude is that if they get lots of damage, she'll just pack the cats up into a motorhome and move to TN until things are cleaned up.

HELLO!!?!? Don't you think that if you're planning for that contingency, it'd make more sense to just move to TN *NOW* *BEFORE* the storm hits and that way risk fewer lives???

I mean, I know I have a tendency to panic when it comes to big storms -- that's a phobia of mine. But HELLO? We're talking a Cat 4 likely to be a Cat 5 here! We're not talking the Cat 3 / Cat 2 Charley that already did a lot of damage!

Ugh.

If I have any hair left after this, it won't be because of them.

I'm worried about some other friends in Orlando, too, but 1) they're in Orlando, which is further inland so not going to be as bad as West Palm Beach (yeah, bad, but not *as* bad), 2) they're in HOUSES, not Apartment/Condo, and 3) they're younger and more likely to be able to survive if they had to live for 2 weeks with no A/C.

I hate hurricanes.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

All of the Universal on site hotels allow pets.

 

[Ellester]

Well, I have to agree that if they are not east of I-95, I would stay. Officials usually ask non-manditory evacuation areas to stay to let the roads handle all those who MUST evacuate. My dad, step-mom, step-sisters, neice, nephew, and stepbrother all live in Lake Worth, just west of I-95 and they are putting up the hurricane shutters, sinking the pool furniture in the pool, bringing in the plants, and staying put. My step-mom was born in Miami and has been through many, including Andrew. I wonder what the statistics are for deaths in a hurricane versus deaths in car accidents during the evacuation? If it was a mobile home, there would be no question, but a condo should be built of the same cement block as everything else in South Florida. JMHO

 

[laurie31]

I just read that those not leaving mandatory evacuation areas are being asked to provide police with names and numbers of their next of kin

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5876681/

I hope they decide to leave before it's too late.

Laurie

 

[totalia]

They just need to keep calling till they find a place that will take pets.

I don't think they are being stupid though. I wouldn't leave my cat behind either. My Sasha is so much a part of my life that it would be like cutting off my arm.

 

[Rajah]

No, that's not the reason I think they're being stupid, totalia. It's because In my opinion, they should have packed all the cats up, renting a van or motorhome if need be, and gotten everyone out of there instead of just saying "nah, too inconvenient, we'll just bunker down here."

If it were me, I would have had all my pets (including the fish) packed up and all of us out of there 2 days ago at least.

 

[Catzeyes]

The hurricane missed us 2 days ago. I also was not going anywhere. When you live on an island there is no where to go. I was going to stay put with my cats and ride it out. My prayers are with them.