The U.S. has plenty of natural disasters to worry about, but tornadoes are one of the iconic. They are chased and photographed more than any other weather event because they are terrifyingly beautiful. Their beauty is only matched by their power. Tornadoes occur without warning and cause serious damage. Over 1,200 tornadoes touch down every year and are most common in the Spring months from March to June. The ten states with the highest risk are Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Mississippi, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
Unfortunately, our pets are often silent victims of these powerful storms. Here are some important ways to prepare and keep our pets as safe as possible.
Make Your Disaster Plan
Even though tornadoes strike most often in tornado alley, they can strike outside the red zone and any time of the year. Making your disaster plan is critical. For help creating this plan, take a look at The Essential Dog & Cat Disaster Preparedness Guide for Guardians. And just in case the worst happens and we are separated from our precious pets, we can turn to A Guide to Pet IDs for Lost Pet Recovery.
Get Alerts & Forecasts
We should all sign up for email and SMS alerts, whether we have pets or not. The National Weather Service offers alert services of kinds on this directory. Each of us can connect with the alerts that are right for us and our area beginning with the directory and then looking into local alert systems and evacuation plans.
Practice Tornado Safety Drills
When a tornado strikes, it can be too chaotic and scary to clearly remember everything that needs to be done safely. The only way to be prepared is to run through drills a few times a year and make sure everything is in place. Bring pets inside. It isn’t safe for them outside. If evacuation is possible, we need to know where to go in advance, the best routes, and have everything ready to bring our pets and supplies with us.
EcoImmune™ Immune Support & Booster Supplement
Having a tough immune system prior to a storm hitting is important because our cat and canine companions will be able to fight anything that gets stirred up. Even if we have fresh water available, they will sometimes get into puddles and other off-limits areas. Bacteria in muddied water, more dirt and spores in the air than normal, and the increased stress we’ll all be suffering from, post-tornado. EcoImmune is packed with immune enhancers and powerful antioxidants. It’s easy to administer, inexpensive, and comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Plus, both dogs and cats love the taste.
Make the Tornado-Safe Zone Animal-Friendly
Those of us who are lucky enough to have a tornado shelter should make sure the shelter is fur-baby safe. If we’re taking shelter in our homes, we shouldn’t open windows, and we’ll need to have a designated room where we’ll ride it out. Make sure there aren’t any small crevices where cats might hide out of reach. Move anything dangerous, like chemicals or prescriptions into a storage area where animals won’t be able to get to them. Have some treats, food, toys, water, any animal prescriptions, and extra leashes and carriers. Just in case we need to wait there for a while, we’ll have the necessities. And we’ll be ready to leave the area with our animals secured for travel in carriers or on leashes.
Be Mentally Prepared
We’ll need to make sure pets are microchipped to increase the chances of being reunited with them if we get separated. We can have a few printed pictures ready to show people. They should be printed because the power might be out and we’ll want to conserve batteries on our devices. We’ll also need to be sure we are extra patient and kind to our pets. They’ll be able to sense our stress. Plus, it’s very possible our homes and neighborhoods will look and smell very different. They’ll be confused and scared, so it’s important that we keep them close, calm, and loved.