Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Prepare - And Hope You Never Need It
I overhead my husband talking on the telephone this morning about the time he slept through a tornado. It was early 1990, I believe, when I was still in Peru finishing up our adoption of our oldest daughter. Andrew was in bed, heard what sounded like a train rushing past the house - and turned over and went back to sleep.
The tornado wrecked our neighborhood in Marietta, GA, in metro-Atlanta. Roofs were taken off, trash lay everywhere, trees were badly damaged. Luckily, there were no deaths.
Andrew was fortunate that the tornado decided to zig instead of zag. I could have just as easily come home from Peru houseless or even as a widow.
Now you might be thinking that he just didn't recognize the warning sounds of a tornado. No, that's not it. He heard it, said to himself that it was a tornado, and still went back to sleep.
When we get the warning - whether it be a tornado warning, a threat of an evacuation, floods, wildfires too close for comfort, or anything else that might make us have to take shelter or evacuate - we should move into action.
First and foremost, the protection of human beings must come first. You've heard of people running into burning buildings to save pets or precious belongings. That must not happen.
When my family's home burned down in 1974, my mother re-entered the house to save a fur coat. Luckily the neighbors decided to rescue me! I was inside the house still on the main level.
That brings up a good point. Know what your priorities are. People first, animals next, information, and then items. People must not be put at risk.
I think the people and animals part is obvious. Information means all of the information it takes to rebuild your life. That includes account numbers and contact information for your insurance, banking, health insurance, and so forth. All of that information, plus perhaps your digital pictures, should be kept on a flash drive
(also called "memory stick" - that's a small external drive that is smaller than a Bic lighter - you'll need one with more memory if you want to include pictures). That's where I back-up my pedigree program as well.
You might be thinking that if there's a disaster that takes out your home that pedigree information might be worthless. But disasters are fickle; taking out your home office and leaving your rabbitry unharmed wouldn't be a rare situation.
And if your rabbitry is devastated, it would be nice to have the information to try to rebuild your line from repurchasing your own rabbits or getting offspring back from other breeders. The pedigree you get with the animal would tell you about the ancestors, of course, but only your pedigree program would tell you about cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles.
If you have to evacuate, think about what you can take in your vehicle(s). We have just one and we have three children still living at home. That doesn't leave much room. I know we'd take our four Chihuahuas and our four large outdoor dogs. I'd be lucky to be able to get more than a couple of single carriers into the car with us. If I have to pick two rabbits, they are May and Lord.
Now I have to think about how my rabbits will survive if I have to leave home for several days and no one will be there to take care of them. If there is time, I can pile in food and put in extra crocks of water. If the electricity stays on, they will have water anyway since we have automatic waterers.
I don't really have the perfect answer to the next question, but how do your rabbits survive if they can't get out of their cages and a fire or flood actually comes. Do we leave the cages latched or unlatched? It's something to think about.
So whether you need to head for your safe place to survive a tornado, need to pack up and go to evacuate, or have to climb to your roof to survive a flood, know what you need to do. Gather your family, collect your pets, grab your memory stick, and take Grandma's antique teapot that her grandmother brought over from England, and make sure you are all safe.
Laurie ¶ 11:47 AM
The tornado wrecked our neighborhood in Marietta, GA, in metro-Atlanta. Roofs were taken off, trash lay everywhere, trees were badly damaged. Luckily, there were no deaths.
Andrew was fortunate that the tornado decided to zig instead of zag. I could have just as easily come home from Peru houseless or even as a widow.
Now you might be thinking that he just didn't recognize the warning sounds of a tornado. No, that's not it. He heard it, said to himself that it was a tornado, and still went back to sleep.
When we get the warning - whether it be a tornado warning, a threat of an evacuation, floods, wildfires too close for comfort, or anything else that might make us have to take shelter or evacuate - we should move into action.
First and foremost, the protection of human beings must come first. You've heard of people running into burning buildings to save pets or precious belongings. That must not happen.
When my family's home burned down in 1974, my mother re-entered the house to save a fur coat. Luckily the neighbors decided to rescue me! I was inside the house still on the main level.
That brings up a good point. Know what your priorities are. People first, animals next, information, and then items. People must not be put at risk.
I think the people and animals part is obvious. Information means all of the information it takes to rebuild your life. That includes account numbers and contact information for your insurance, banking, health insurance, and so forth. All of that information, plus perhaps your digital pictures, should be kept on a flash drive
(also called "memory stick" - that's a small external drive that is smaller than a Bic lighter - you'll need one with more memory if you want to include pictures). That's where I back-up my pedigree program as well. You might be thinking that if there's a disaster that takes out your home that pedigree information might be worthless. But disasters are fickle; taking out your home office and leaving your rabbitry unharmed wouldn't be a rare situation.
And if your rabbitry is devastated, it would be nice to have the information to try to rebuild your line from repurchasing your own rabbits or getting offspring back from other breeders. The pedigree you get with the animal would tell you about the ancestors, of course, but only your pedigree program would tell you about cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles.
If you have to evacuate, think about what you can take in your vehicle(s). We have just one and we have three children still living at home. That doesn't leave much room. I know we'd take our four Chihuahuas and our four large outdoor dogs. I'd be lucky to be able to get more than a couple of single carriers into the car with us. If I have to pick two rabbits, they are May and Lord.
Now I have to think about how my rabbits will survive if I have to leave home for several days and no one will be there to take care of them. If there is time, I can pile in food and put in extra crocks of water. If the electricity stays on, they will have water anyway since we have automatic waterers.
I don't really have the perfect answer to the next question, but how do your rabbits survive if they can't get out of their cages and a fire or flood actually comes. Do we leave the cages latched or unlatched? It's something to think about.
So whether you need to head for your safe place to survive a tornado, need to pack up and go to evacuate, or have to climb to your roof to survive a flood, know what you need to do. Gather your family, collect your pets, grab your memory stick, and take Grandma's antique teapot that her grandmother brought over from England, and make sure you are all safe.
Laurie ¶ 11:47 AM
