Lora Lee 
On Friday, Hurricane Ian came through our area. Lots and lots of heavy rain and scary high winds. We live in the woods, surrounded by lots and lots and lots of very tall trees. So, the conditions that Ian brought with him are huge concern. I have never paid attention to wind speeds until we moved here 2 years ago. Double digit wind speeds with even higher wind gusts are scary when you live among the trees. There is always the possibility of power outages, or even worse, a tree falling on the house. This concern increases for me because of my cats. There needs to be a plan ready in case we lose power or have to leave quickly. I quickly learned how to survive a storm with cats.
No Power!
This past January, we had a major ice storm come through and we lost power. Of course, this was the day after I had just restocked the freezer of my cat’s raw food. And had gone to the grocery store. Definitely not a good time to lose power. Luckily, a quick trip to Lowe’s and we secured the last generator they had in stock. So, we were able to keep our food, and most importantly, the cat’s raw food safe. The generator proved to be a smart purchase again today.
We lost power on Friday around 7pm. Unfortunately, because of the heavy rain and wind, we were not able to hook it up to use last night. So, off to the store Ryan went to get bags of ice. I did not have as much frozen raw in the freezer this time, but there were still enough that I did not want to lose. The cat’s food was placed in coolers full of ice. This morning, when we woke to still no power, we hooked up the generator to be able to plug in the refrigerator and charge our phones and other devices. Generators can be pricey, but for me, it has already paid for itself.
Down Trees!
Since we have moved here 2 years ago, we have had quite a few trees that have fallen. Luckily, the majority of the trees have fallen in the woods and away from the house, garage and Cat House. This past January, when we had the ice storm, we did have a tree that fell across our driveway, blocking our bridge (which is our only way out of our house). We have LOTS of trees around our house, and really close to our house. I realized that I really needed a plan in case one of the lovely trees made contact with our house. I was I going to get 13 cats from inside AND 6 cats from outside to safety. Most people struggle with getting 1 cat into a carrier for a vet trip. This would be a completely different and more stressful situation.
Dog crates and carriers are my plan of action in case we need to evacuate. I have some downstairs with the Kracken Kitties. The ones that I would need for the Cat House cats are in the garage. And the others are in the upstairs closet. The Gremlin Kittens are conditioned to go to their crate to eat. So, getting them in should be a breeze. I keep a dog crate up in the Kracken Kitty room where I put their water. Every now and then, I toss some treats in there to keep it a safe place. Keeping your carriers out all the time is a great way to get your cat accustomed to going into the carrier. It is not something foreign that you only pull out when you have a vet trip. They are able to associate it with everyday life. This will be very helpful for when you may need to get them to safety.
Survival Once Again!
So, we survived Hurrican Ian fairly unscathed. At the time that I am writing this, we still do not have power. We are the only ones in our neighborhood without power. A tree fell and snapped the power line running to our house. The downfall of living way off the road in the woods. But we have the generator and camp lights. It is not as cold as it was in January, but we do have a fireplace and some space heaters to take the chill out if we need to. The cat’s food is safe and secure, which, to me, is the most important thing. Oh, and my iced coffee.
We have some branches and lots of leaves all around the house, but no damage to the house, garage or Cat House at all. Of course, the only tree that fell would be the one that took down the power line with it. As soon as the weather started to get bad yesterday, I immediately put up my “protective bubble” over our property. Think Under the Dome by Stephen King. You are probably thinking that I have lost my mind with the “woo woo” stuff again. However, the power of the woo lies with intention and belief. Both are very strong with me. AND it has protected us from damage in 3 storms when some of our neighbors were not as lucky. So, I will always put up my “protective bubble” along with everything else that I need to do to survive a storm with my cats and keep them safe.
“Keep calm and cuddle with your cat.”~Terry Pratchett
