Found one already ZZ but THANK YOU. I had posted to FB as well & a girl on there thinks she can mail me one.. if not i'll let you know.
Greykyttyn is okay!
Okay.. good.. I found the charger, but not the phone.. it must be in storage. I do have an ATT go phone if you need.. expensive, but good in a pinch.
When my SILs house burned the family was able to replenish most of her photos because she had given us all so many of her 4 kids. But losing the old single copies is devastating. I only have a few of my Dad who passed when I was 8.
;~} You saved the most important thing...... Your Family... HUGS...
I've got pictures that are clear to Springfield I'm sure.. thats why my DH braved the winds to run back to our house just a couple mins before the tornado hit to grab the 2 External hard drives with 10 yrs of photos on... my laptop got left... but the kids pictures we got... Thankfully our houses were good & my laptop is still there.. the photos on it WILL BE added to the EHD very soon..... They are small and portable..
IF ANY storm starts into the area I've always packed a small bag... i can't take much.. but i can take what i can that can't be replaced. my biggest issue has always been i only have 1 cat carrier.. so who do i choose... Sassy? Katie? Twitch? Callie? Lil Girl? Boba? Sissy? or the kittens... how do you pick? i cant' take all, can't shoved all into the carrier.. but they are all my babies too.. It was heartbreaking Wed night when the sirens blew again... we ended up leavning them all.. and praying we didn't get hit. They were terrified, crying & begging me to hold them.. but i had to close the door in thier face & run with the kids to the basement.
Greykykttyn, or anyone else who has to evacuate, use pillowcases. One for each cat. Believe it or not, they seem somehow more comforting than carriers, and seldom do cats object nearly as much as you'd expect. Tie around the top with cord. I eventually kept a stack of thrift store pillowcases with rope run thru the hem and used that to tie them closed, like a pursestring. They get plenty of air, if that is a concern. It's not for long term, of course, but great for transport.
I went thru two concurrent hurricanes in S Florida, which ended up destroying my house. The cats needed transport to the safe house I'd arranged. I had 7 carriers, but before Frances things got dicey quicker than I'd expected, and after the second trip we ended up plopping everyone in pillowcases and loading the car and truck. When we had to repeat a few weeks later, the "pillowcase cats" were less freaked out than the ones who had traveled by carrier. I think it's because they didn't see what was going on.
I had every intention of posting links for you showing I'm not completely off my rocker, but my computer is soooo sloooow that i'll try to post them later, if they ever finish loading :(.
Just wondering why the cats couldn't go to the basement? That would be the best option, I think.
basement was at mom's house... cat's never been outside except to vet... i ended up needing to carry 1 of them across the yard when we moved... she wouldn't go in carried... took 3 days to calm her down. I will get pillow cases! We didnt' have enough of those for the cats either... THANK YOU CATMAD
Oh, and don't use old pillowcases. I've used this technique too - for years, but I once put one large, determined cat in an old pillow case. He jammed his head into a corner and PUSHED - rip, out he came!
so buying new pillow cases ASAP! I'm guessing cheap walmart ones would rip as well.. will hav eto see what target's got
Mine was REALLY old, Walmart would probably be fine.
have you actually looked at a walmart pillow case lately? a cheap one you can see thru them... i doubt they'd stand up to my poor cats claws.
Haven't been able to post in a while, my subscription expired, but I'm back and so glad to hear that you are okay. I have family in Missouri but just north of Jeff City. They have had some tornado activity there too and lost a tree and have had to spend some time in the basement, but luckily all are okay. I feel for you greykyttn, the pictures are horrible but I'm sure it's much worse. I know someone whos parents lived there and had a rent house there as well, they lost both houses but they are okay.
Wb Smedgekles. We had rain in the Texas panhandle last night about midnight, along with pea sized hail. It was wonderful, it just POURED about an hour. I am so thankful.
Last Sunday there were fires very near here, so we really needed the rain. Chance of more rain tonight.
"Oh, and don't use old pillowcases."
Good point, porkpal. I didn't have any problems, but my Furkids were mostly pretty close to feral still, and just kind of froze. I have some dollar store pillowcases that are pretty strudy. Not very soft for sleeping, but as transport vehicle, they suffice.
I get it now, Greykyttyn, thought the basement was in the same house, thus my confusion. I am easily confused....
If you should end up buying carriers, I'd recommend those that have double doors. One in the usual place (on the end) and a big one on top. Much easier to "load", and many Vet procedures can be done without removing the cat from the carrier. If you need to load a cat into a carrier with only the door on the end, stand the carrier so the door is on top. Hold kitty by the scruff of the neck, and lower him/her down onto the abyss. Doesn't always work, but it's worth a shot.
LFG we are still dry, dry, dry. Glad you got some wet stuff, share some with us :)
lol ya... doesn't always work..tipped on the end... i have a cat... Katie.. who unless u wrap her head in a towel will without a doubt every time throw every leg she's got out in a different direction & i swear at that moment she grows an extra set of legs.. It takes two people to load her in a carrier.. always. She's such a sweetie till she sees the carrier... everyone else can be pushed in from the front.. I have a second carrier that needs replaced.. my cat died in it when the neighbor poisoned it & the cats refuse to get in the thing. Its a leather carrier with an opening on both ends AND the top. I love it. so much easier to use.. i just can't use it anymore bc they get so very distraught when put in it. He pooped all over it when he died.. and i can't get it out of the fur lining since its not washable.. so out to the trash its been sent.
New twist to this lovely story....
FEMA does NOT help businesses.... we were told to go to SBA... well SBA.. ONLY GIVES OUT LOANS. FEMA keeps bragging how they are gonna rebuild this town... they aren't going to rebuild anything but houses...and not even really helping to much with that consitently. so what happens when the 500+ business can't afford to rebuild & half of them move out! The business are just as important if not more so that the houses at this point.. the business owners have cleared 98% of debris & are ready to rebuild for at least half those businesses... BUT a good portion will not be able to rebuild due to not being able to pay on a loan while trying to make enough to meet payroll. They keep advertising & telling the community that there is 30k out there for each business not payable back to rebuild... so normal citizens are praising FEMA left & right. They have left us helpless as far as getting ANY government help that would be helpful at all.
So its been a lovely week so far.
day just went a bit further down... they found my SIL's Stepsister. Her house wasn't damaged.. she would have been fine.. but her precious doggy ran down the street when the sirens blew & she ran after it. They found her body last night after days of searching.. not sure where. They have yet to find the dog dead or alive. I hadn't seen her since i was a small girl.. but my sis in law & her family are in need of prayers.
I'm so sorry. Please let them know that people all over are feeling a little of their pain, and wish them peace and healing.
FEMA wasn't much help in my situation with rebuilding, and the loans were not much use to anyone that I could see.
But, I give them great praise for getting me my trailer. I was automatically put into the trailer program when my house was condemned, but I was able to afford my own trailer, and figured that I should. I was going back and forth with my village zoning board, because trailers weren't allowed. I jumped through 100 hoops, including getting written permission from every neighbor. Finally thought I had it under control, but one more obstacle appeared. I was just out of gas. The next day, a nice man called me called me and said he was from FEMA, and how did he find my lot. I asked why he needed to know, and I probably wasn;t very nice about it.
He said he had my trailer, and wanted to get me in it ASAP. I burst into tears and said I wasn't allowed.....
He laughed. Said, "yeah, I know. But you've forgotten. I'm with the GOVERNMENT. I'm bringing the trailer. They will just have to deal with Uncle Sam"
It was there the next morning, set up, and permitted. I don't know how, but I never heard another word about it.
Much as I may B*&ch about the government, it did come thru for me. Big time.
I hope that something works out for you.
I'm sorry for your loss Greykyttyn... That is terribly sad.
There is so much associated with the storm that we don't see.. and about the business, that is just insane.. so what if they put up a bunch of houses, how are people expected to live?? Gut wrenching.. and just wrong.
I had a suggestion about pillow cases.. My friend who bought some chickens from me said to use feed bags.. they do not rip. The chickens kinda just freeze, and don't fight making the trip less stressful.. they can breathe just fine, and although it looks like torture, it is surprisingly easy on them!
You could fold a bunch of feedbags and keep them in one feedbag.. that's what I do. :)
@catmad... they were told here to find housing themselves... when all housing was filled.. then they would consider a possibility of trailers.. but they do not know how long that will take and people must find their own housing till them. no tents either...
@zz... would work great! got hundreds of chicken feed sacks... only problem... Purina makes em out of plastic now... not very breathable.
:) if your talking old cloth feed & flour bags.. its hard to find them around here. I have 2 i believe.. but they are very thick material.. not sure how anything could breathe in that. i know some were thinner.. just not the ones i have.
thank you both of you. I will pass it on
oh how sad but I understand the love for her pet and trying to save it.
Seems Govt works for some and not others. I don't know how they decide who to help but it is usually the ones that really don't deserve it. I am not being mean when I say that. Ex. my neighbors home was pd for. She knew she needed flood ins because we were in a flood zone but a low risk one. Not only did she not have flood ins but also didn't have any kind of ins on her home. she said she could afford to rebuild if anything happen but thought it wasn't likely. She had a Fema Trailer in a matter of weeks, got 2% SBA loan to rebuild and all the other perks those people got.
I had Flood Ins, Home Owners, and Wind coverage for hurricane. I got nothing but $1280 that everyone on the MS & La coast got. Home Owners doesn't cover housing for flooding and Flood Ins doesn't provide housing for those with losses. So finally 6 months later we got our Ins Money to start over.
What got us through was all the wonderful help we received from DG Members and a loan from a family member to put a down payment on this house before we lost it to someone else since the Ins dragged their feet so long in paying us off
our insurance company is awesome... they were there the day after & handed mom a large check for operating expenses. we hadn't' even called them yet.. the problem is.. you can't afford to carry full coverage insurance on all vehicles.. so out of 5 trucks.. 2 had full coverage. even at that.. we were paying like.. $6000 into the insurance company every 3 months for insurance on the buildings & trucks... BUT liability insurance doesn't rebuild the truck..
I was give a very big shock Wednesday morning when i learned the government would not help us out. In my naive state of growing up.. i believed FEMA was there to help everyone. Its very sad they don't.
The plastic feed bags are what I was talking about.. We transported several birds that way and it IS breathable.. Or the grain would mold.. In a pinch, they would work well.. Not like your gonna leave em in there that long.. :) Flour sacks are a great idea!
I'm so sorry about your bad news.. hard to believe they just don't care. :(
our grain does come moldy half the time.... that's why i didn't think they breathed... the company said it was from the bags getting too warm & moisture getting into them since they don't let hardly any air in. I'm taking bags of grain back about every other month anymore... if i didn't like the brand so much i'd just change. But the chickens do better on it. In a pinch yes... they would work.. even tied loosely at top.
finally got hold of Meyers... they are sending me some chick starter & treats for the babies for my trouble. Said they knew about the Tornado but never check addresses on stuff, just mail it out. They will now though! or so they say.
What shocked me to see about FEMA, after Katrina, was they were out taking people's guns away from them, leaving them helpless to defend themselves or their property. At least that is what videos on youtube show. Have to leave my disclaimer, as I was not there and did not witness that.
Why in the world take people's guns when they need them most? Crazy time!
Will not be on here as much for a few days.. one of the kids who was in the gas station has come to live with us for a few weeks. My DH is hogging the computer trying to avoid the issues of now 4 females in the house.. 1 of which is a teenager... awesome teenager.. but still a teen. So far its working out good. She hadn't slept since the tornado... first night here i got her to sleep around midnight.. she didn't stir till 845am the next morning. This morning she's still not awake... and she went to bed around 1 am.
Give her a hug for me.. :) Hannah, right? I'm glad things are starting to smooth out. :)
i will ZZ.... i have to say... putting cats in a pillow case to transport... not such a great idea... they turned into the cats from hell.... declawed or not... my word... they turned into tigers! won't attempt that one again... no way i could transport them during a storm that way. We had to have the house sprayed for spiders... so i put 3 of the cats into pillow cases to transport them across the yard hoping it would be less tramatic... um... my cats must be odd.. didnt' work that way. Near lost my hand. have to keep thinking of ideas.
Hmmmm, odd, worked for me...
Oh dear. I had no issues, either. So sorry it didn't work for you, we'll have to keep trying. The only difference I can see is that declawed cats are notorious for biting, was that the problem?
I also think it is important to carry the pillowcase by the cat - the bottom, not the top like a bag.
lol yep had the bottom... but the cats turned into the tigers & lions from some far off land, howling, twisting, turning, flipping, & fighting to get out of the bag.
Still looking for an idea... was really really really really hoping that worked.
Greykyttyn, this has been much on my mind. I know it would have been very distracting for me had I not known I could transport everyone, especially pressured by predicted disaster. I had to know all the stuff I needed was where it should be, which is unusual for me *G*. I just looked back, and can't find out the reason that you only have one carrier. Is it an issue of space? Cost? Both of those can be solved, is it something else?
I may not be able to help with much, but maybe this is do-able :)
well keep in mind.. i got married & moved to a new house. before.. when the sirens would sound.. my babies would all race for the basement right ahead of my mother to greet me at the bottom of the staircase with many cries of panic. My outdoor cats would be at the door waiting for me to open it & race right down stairs with the others. I now live next door to my mother.. and it never occurred to me I would need to transport all of them at one time. The inside cats might come next door when they see us run.. but i am not sure. besides a tornado.. there really isn't any reason I'd need to transport all the cats & the dog at one time... other than when we sprayed for spiders yesterday. We will be putting in a storm shelter so idk how hard it would be to transport them into the shelter.. which will be just a few feet out the back door.. probably just need to continually run back & grab them.. they all hate carriers with a passion but i could put them in as soon as it upgrades to a warning I suspect.. but that could mean an hour or 3 inside a carrier.. or more. which i hate to do as well as often as we have storms. Space is an issue here and i do have 2 carriers.. one hard sided one & a leather collapsible one that unzipped on each end & the top. My mom threw it in the washer & got it clean enough the cats will now go in it again after my other cat unfortunately died inside of it. Money is a bigger issue. small but not super tiny carriers that are collapsible cost around $40 here. we have & adult cats here now.. will still have 6 when the Shop cat returns to our shop when its rebuilt... and 5 kittens. We decided we can't rehome them after this. There are too many homeless, motherless kittens out there. We will keep ours & ask people to go find one at the shelter.
I normally pack ahead everything we'd need for 3 days including peanut butter, crackers, syurp, granola bars, candy, gatorade & other such items that don't require refrigeration. meds for me, mom, kids, animals, small amount of food for animals, small extensive first aid kit, money, id cards, insurance cards, EHD's loaded with photos, 1 small bag about a ft x ft big.. that can hold anything of value.. but it must fit in that bag. Kids get 1 back pack for the girls, 1 for the boys & the older kids carry them... they can only pack what toys or items they hold dear that will fit. our 1 bug out bag was so heavy my DH had a bruise on his shoulder from carrying it. If i can think of it & it seems we could use it, it goes in the bag... though now i keep a weight limit on the bags so I'm revising what goes in. I had put too much food items in the one my DH was carrying. With a shelter (when it goes in) i will keep a box of food items for a week for 10 people down there (shelter will hold 20). which will no longer need to be packed with us.
My twitchy still howls when they test the sirens on Mondays... but i had clutched her to my chest & ran across the yard in the rain & winds with her. I got her out that way, boba & her kittens out in a carrier. Sassy went to ground.. couldn't find her, no time to look, same for Katie. Little girl who always comes in the house & Callie... were no where to be found.. they went to ground outside, which told me we were in for it. The poor shop cat Sissy rode it out in the shop.. no clue where, we never found the body of the other one & she's not shown up at the shelter yet. We had 20 to 30 stray shop cats we fed.. numerous kittens but none have been found. none were close to our hearts but it does hurt to not know where they are.
It was just one of those things I took for granted never having moved before.. it was heart breaking to close the door on them. They are my babies. My oldest I've had her 13 yrs. I pray we have no more weather issues till our shelter goes in. Then this will never be an issue again.
That sure brings it all home. I still get very "twitchy" myself when the winds rise. Used to love storms, but not anymore. Somehow I never feel quite as safe. It's gotten better, and I hope will continue to.
You have good plans in place. I found that was important for me, and that if I knew where everything was, it went much more smoothly. Probably because I didn't have to think.
My "safe house" for the cats was just next door (about 1000 ft), but it was still a logistical nightmare. I was dealing with a ot of cats, and housing was as complicated as transporting. I very much hope that you have no more issues until the shelter is ready. If the cats become used to being in there, they may go by themselves, cats are smart and good at finding safety. The ones I couldn't catch during hurricanes (pretty much feral) dissappeared before the situation got serious, and I only lost one over the years. He (Three Spots) had been very ill prior, and was older, so we think he just didn't wake up.We found him in a safe place. No-one was in the house when the roof went off, AFAIK.
Still, I will keep my eyes open at yard sales and flea markets, and if I can come up with collapsible carriers, I'll get them. They usually only cost 5 bucks or so around here. I'll contact you if I find any. I keep a plastic one in my trunk along with cans of cat food, just in case....
Don't give up on the shop cats, especially the outsiders. If there's any way to leave them food and water, it might save them. I have some feral kittens that have been eating in my porch, and they disappeared with very feral MomCat two days ago. I was just beginning to put out boxes, which leads up to carriers, to trap them. I didn't "know" them, and it certainly would make life easier if they were no longer here, but this morning, when they (at least most of them) re-appeared, I was very happy to see them.
I know that this is a very hard time. The initial "help" peters out, and you seem forgotten. You're not, believe me. Things just don't get better very quickly, and my thoughts are with you.
Margo
Seems the secret morgue was because of a strain of fungus that was killing people after the storm. They claim it was in the air caused by the tornado. Unsure on that, as "population reduction" is a favorite past time of our Elite world rulers. Fungus and heavy metals are rumored to be in the chemtrails they keep spraying us with.
http://www.newson6.com/story/14884275/fungal-infection-strikes-joplin-tornado-victims
It is these molds and fungi in antibiotics that are causing many health problems in our society, and finally here is some proof that they are quite real. Of course there are over three hundred different strains of these molds, this particular one is deadly. Acidophilus and garlic help kill fungi.
More info on this strain: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001672/
Stay safe.
ugh.. ya.. i took more than my fair share of acidophilus & garlic as a child... still take & feed those eating my food a good healthy amount of fresh garlic with nearly every meal. We were in so much of it... there is no doubt we've all inhaled it. but its been 3 weeks & no side effects. I stepped on a nail a week ago... food feels fine.. DH has been watching it for me. pulled it open & poured a LOT of 93% alcohol down inside it. Almost poured a bottle of 40 yr old whisky on it thinking it might help more. DH stepped on a nail, i had glass pulled out of my feet for 2 days.. otherwise.. besides me trying to slice my finger off we've been good injury wise.
catmad ..... its probably 500 feet to mom's house... still a nightmare to transport them tho. I was nearly in tears carrying Twitch across the yard... she was so scared & there was nothing i could do to make her feel safe.
news flash.. if you are going to bleach someone's hair in a kitchen sink please check weather first & make sure southwest Missouri isn't going to have isolated thunderstorms. It will be the one time in you life an isolated thunderstorm actually happens. lightening flashed,power went out, water flew, i shoved the child across the room into the interior kitchen wall, following close behind & shielding her from the window & she imbedded her nails into my arm in fear. all in about point 3 seconds. Her hair is bleached blonde... our nerves are shot. dying it pink tonight... hoping there is NO more storms.
I was just thinking about a carrier that one could throw together in a pinch. I was thinking about stuff people probably have around the house and it came to me.
How about a laundry basket, a blanket, and some of those bungee cords to wrap around it to keep the blanket secure? Not sure if that will work with wild cats, but I know my cats like to jump in my laundry baskets so it would not be a stretch to put them in it in an emergency. You can hook one end on one side and can stretch the bungee over the top and then hook it to the other doing like a cross pattern or several parallels over top.
What does everyone think?