Hurricane Harvey animals rescued

[Tobi]

My thoughts go out to all the victims of Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area of Texas.

But emergency rescue is underway for all the stranded animals too. There is information and links to some emergency resources on this page:

http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/stranded...d=49465792

[Catherine]

You beat me to it. I was going to post something about the hurricane tonight.

There are some remarkable rescues going on, people and animals. People have somehow organized things in the face of a major natural disaster. The shelters are doing the impossible and they are doing it well. Everyone is just doing what needs to be done and animals are being looked after. The supplies they need are there for them. 

Things will never happen again like they did for hurricane Katrina. People were forced to leave their pets behind. Teams of rescuers searched the area trying to find abandoned animals and save them. It was another level of disaster.
Now pets are recognized as a part of all evacuation plans. It is terrible that Katrina happened the way it did, but at least we learned from it.


You will notice that pets are just part of the rescue pictures.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-c...-1.4264774


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/...pets-cats/

The image of Otis carrying his dog food really stands out. He was evacuating on his own.

There are also wild animals that are effected by the floodwaters.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/natio...story.html

I am glad they rescued the bats.


There will be lives lost, but hopefully the efforts of many will be enough to save the majority.
It will take a long time for the flood waters to recede. There is going to be a lot of rebuilding to do. At least many people will have their pets with them. That makes up for a lot.

[Tobi]

Now the two reservoirs are flooding out.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/29/har...itory.html

It isn't over yet. My thoughts go out to all the people caught up in this, and all the animals, particularly strays who may have no one to look out for them. But the animal rescue response is so good. Bless those who are working so hard to help right now.

[Catherine]

I understand that Hurricane Harvey is swinging back so the area could be hit again. The amount of rainfall is beyond anything they could have expected.
Does anyone doubt the dangers of climate change and rising sea levels now?

I feel for all the people and animals(pets and wildlife) who are displaced, endangered and possibly will not make it. 

All we can do is hope that most were able to make it to safety, but I fear many did not.

[Catherine]

I found some news updates.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/no-pet-left-...1.3566999?

There are a number of videos and they are well worth watching.


http://globalnews.ca/news/3700428/hurric...ls-rescue/

Even  looking at the pictures, we can't imagine what it is like to live through this.
The flooding is worse than anything I could imagine.


One thing I noticed is the fact that people's pets are being taken in the boats with them.

Wild animals are in trouble and they are needing help.

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animal...y-flooding

I know snakes can swim, but it must be hard for them to swim in such cold water.
I hope they rescued the bats.

[Tobi]

It is STILL happening !....Katelyn Scales, the owner of those two Labradors pictured in the boat (on your first link) says "When my mom was rescued they told her she could not get on the boat if she brought the dogs."

Thank goodness the dogs were rescued and everything turned out okay for them, at least. It is wonderful a lady in La Marque is looking after them, but it may be some time until Katelyn and her family can even get to them, especially with more storms already battering the area.

I am glad to see so much help going on for those people and the animals. So much is offered by such kind people.

[Catherine]

There are just so many stories coming out of Texas. I am sure there are negative things happening, but |I sense that most people are trying to rescue animals.

http://people.com/pets/hurricane-harvey-...-refugees/

There were changes in the law that ensured that animals would be helped in most cases.


http://www.newsweek.com/houston-flooding...ook-656486


An animal shelter got flooded and had to be evacuated.

https://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/...s-and-cats


11 unforgettable rescues

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opin...story.html


They did rescue the bats.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anim...ae34d9e82b


I am sure this is just a small number of the actual rescues going on.
Disasters bring great hardship, but they also seem to bring out the best in most people.

[Tobi]

There is such a concerted effort to help those animals. I was glad to hear -in a recent alert given by the Mayor telling people in some areas to leave their homes -that they mustn't forget to take their pets with them.

In Port Arthur, the Max Bowl bowling alley hosted approximately 500 local residents, plus 50 to 100 dogs. And a lizard. And a monkey.

Meanwhile, could there be even more tragedy on the way?
Hurricane Irma is now building in the Atlantic:

http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/..._frid.html

It is highly likely this one will make landfall as well in a few days.

[Catherine]

Where ever Irma hits it could be bad. All those coastal cities are right on sea level. There will be flooding. I found a good article with information about hurricanes. I live so far inland that I am less familiar with how hurricanes work. 

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...VrCqsNPvyg

There are still three months of possible hurricanes and the conditions seem to be right for them to be bad ones.

It may be over except for the clean-up in Texas, but it is just beginning somewhere else.
Of course the clean-up stage is the worst part. It will go on for months and even years. 
The flooding will take a long time to go away. The ground is saturated so the water has no where to go.

The rescuing goes on.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/31/us/animals...index.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/anim...-flooding/


Stories of rescues are going to keep surfacing for weeks to come. Many pets will find their owners when this is all over. I don't know how many of them will have homes to go back to. In the end we just have to be glad that lives were saved.