How a friend is preparing for evacuation (definitely ON topic)

I have a friend who lives near San Diego. I contacted her today to see if
everything is okay, and she says they have had lots of smoke but no impact
from the fires -- at least not yet. I thought some of you might be
interested in the preparations she has made for her cat in case an
evacuation order comes through. She has been taking her cat to the office
every day. My friend puts the cat in a carrier and locks him in the office
when she is in class, then lets him out when she is not in class and can
stay in the office with him. She has loaded a few necessities in the car,
and since the cat is with her at all times, she will be able to quickly grab
the cat carrier and head for the car (which is fully loaded with gas) if
they have to evacuate. She is single, so she does not have a family to
include in the preparations.

MaryL

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
...
I have a friend who lives near San Diego. I contacted her today to see if
everything is okay, and she says they have had lots of smoke but no impact
from the fires -- at least not yet. I thought some of you might be
interested in the preparations she has made for her cat in case an
evacuation order comes through. She has been taking her cat to the office
every day. My friend puts the cat in a carrier and locks him in the office
when she is in class, then lets him out when she is not in class and can
stay in the office with him. She has loaded a few necessities in the car,
and since the cat is with her at all times, she will be able to quickly
grab the cat carrier and head for the car (which is fully loaded with gas)
if they have to evacuate. She is single, so she does not have a family to
include in the preparations.

MaryL

MaryL wrote:
I have a friend who lives near San Diego. I contacted her today to
see if everything is okay, and she says they have had lots of smoke
but no impact from the fires -- at least not yet. I thought some of
you might be interested in the preparations she has made for her cat
in case an evacuation order comes through. She has been taking her
cat to the office every day. My friend puts the cat in a carrier and
locks him in the office when she is in class, then lets him out when
she is not in class and can stay in the office with him. She has
loaded a few necessities in the car, and since the cat is with her at
all times, she will be able to quickly grab the cat carrier and head
for the car (which is fully loaded with gas) if they have to
evacuate. She is single, so she does not have a family to include in
the preparations.
MaryL

Very sensible precautions, it's really sad that most people wouldn't have
that option.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

On Oct 24, 4:12 pm, "MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER
wrote:
...My friend puts the cat in a carrier and locks him in the office
when she is in class, then lets him out when she is not in class and can
stay in the office with him. She has loaded a few necessities in the car,
and since the cat is with her at all times, she will be able to quickly grab
the cat carrier and head for the car (which is fully loaded with gas) if
they have to evacuate. She is single, so she does not have a family to
include in the preparations.

MaryL

Tell her to pack some bottles of water. Living on the Texas Gulf
Coast, we understand evacuation preparations. We have a portable file
with our current files, such as the folder I use for everything
related to this year's income tax, current insurance policies, etc.
Also we have a bin with our address book, refill checks, some cash,
passports, etc. She might try to pare it down so that she can take
these sorts of things with herto work, maybe in a briefcase.

Please pass our best keeping safe wishes on to her. We have some
longtime friends in that area who are in the same situation.

Annie

wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 24, 4:12 pm, "MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER
wrote:
...My friend puts the cat in a carrier and locks him in the office
when she is in class, then lets him out when she is not in class and can
stay in the office with him. She has loaded a few necessities in the
car,
and since the cat is with her at all times, she will be able to quickly
grab
the cat carrier and head for the car (which is fully loaded with gas) if
they have to evacuate. She is single, so she does not have a family to
include in the preparations.

MaryL

Tell her to pack some bottles of water. Living on the Texas Gulf
Coast, we understand evacuation preparations. We have a portable file
with our current files, such as the folder I use for everything
related to this year's income tax, current insurance policies, etc.
Also we have a bin with our address book, refill checks, some cash,
passports, etc. She might try to pare it down so that she can take
these sorts of things with herto work, maybe in a briefcase.

Please pass our best keeping safe wishes on to her. We have some
longtime friends in that area who are in the same situation.

Annie


I have a similar suitcase packed (and fortunately never used) for
emergencies -- a small external hard disk that I use to periodically
download everything from my computer (data files, Quicken register, digital
photos, etc), a waterproof bag with a small amount of cash, a personal
telephone directory, extra checks, etc. I have cases of cat food close to
the door, extra sets of keys, lots of batteries of various sizes, and some
bottled water. I always keep some flashlights and a first aid kit in the
car. I just got my first passport and had not thought of including that.
Thanks for the suggestion! Also, I have some freeze dried packs of food and
some canned items that would not need to be cooked, in case I have an
emergency where I can stay at home but do not have power. That *has*
happened to me on occasion -- as when I lost power for 7 days following
Hurricane Rita.

MaryL

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
...
I have a friend who lives near San Diego. I contacted her today to see if
everything is okay, and she says they have had lots of smoke but no impact
from the fires -- at least not yet. I thought some of you might be
interested in the preparations she has made for her cat in case an
evacuation order comes through. She has been taking her cat to the office
every day. My friend puts the cat in a carrier and locks him in the office
when she is in class, then lets him out when she is not in class and can
stay in the office with him. She has loaded a few necessities in the car,
and since the cat is with her at all times, she will be able to quickly
grab the cat carrier and head for the car (which is fully loaded with gas)
if they have to evacuate. She is single, so she does not have a family to
include in the preparations.

MaryL


Well, technically she has a family. Only unlike teenaged barekids, she
knows where her furkid is in case she needs to leave.

I still haven't quite forgiven my oldest for deciding one time to evacuate
from a potential flood. Without us, without telling us, and we couldn't
reach her.

Jo

"jofirey" wrote in message
...

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
...
I have a friend who lives near San Diego. I contacted her today to see if
everything is okay, and she says they have had lots of smoke but no impact
from the fires -- at least not yet. I thought some of you might be
interested in the preparations she has made for her cat in case an
evacuation order comes through. She has been taking her cat to the office
every day. My friend puts the cat in a carrier and locks him in the
office when she is in class, then lets him out when she is not in class
and can stay in the office with him. She has loaded a few necessities in
the car, and since the cat is with her at all times, she will be able to
quickly grab the cat carrier and head for the car (which is fully loaded
with gas) if they have to evacuate. She is single, so she does not have a
family to include in the preparations.

MaryL


Well, technically she has a family. Only unlike teenaged barekids, she
knows where her furkid is in case she needs to leave.

I still haven't quite forgiven my oldest for deciding one time to evacuate
from a potential flood. Without us, without telling us, and we couldn't
reach her.

Jo


That really was a terrible thing to do -- I would be angry, too. Someone
else could have been hurt in a case like that by staying too long to try to
find her (and all the time, she had already left). *Not* a good thing!

My mother died last month after spending 5 years in a nursing home. I had
been her caregiver but finally had to place her in a nursing home when she
became completely bedridden. Even so, one of my "emergency" plans was that
I planned to immediately head for the nursing home if we ever had an
evacuation order.

MaryL

jofirey wrote:
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
...
I have a friend who lives near San Diego. I contacted her today to
see if everything is okay, and she says they have had lots of smoke
but no impact from the fires -- at least not yet. I thought some of
you might be interested in the preparations she has made for her cat
in case an evacuation order comes through. She has been taking her
cat to the office every day. My friend puts the cat in a carrier
and locks him in the office when she is in class, then lets him out
when she is not in class and can stay in the office with him. She
has loaded a few necessities in the car, and since the cat is with
her at all times, she will be able to quickly grab the cat carrier
and head for the car (which is fully loaded with gas) if they have
to evacuate. She is single, so she does not have a family to
include in the preparations.

MaryL


Well, technically she has a family. Only unlike teenaged barekids,
she knows where her furkid is in case she needs to leave.

I still haven't quite forgiven my oldest for deciding one time to
evacuate from a potential flood. Without us, without telling us, and
we couldn't reach her.

Jo

I know the feeling, Jo. My parents are in their 80's and when a hurricane
threatens to sweep up the east coast of the U.S., if it doesn't hit Florida
it generally strikes somewhere near the coast of South Carolina or just
above it. That's where they live. There have been a couple of occasions
when they evacuated and didn't tell us about it. There have also been times
when they should have evacuated and they just said f*** it. Either way, no
communication about what was going on is worse than trying to figure things
out from a distance. (Same thing with health issues. I know all about the
HIPAA regulations but if I don't know they're in the hospital in the first
place... sheesh!)

Jill