After Katrina: Saving the animals

“They’re telling us it could stall out right over us.” Cora said, Friday afternoon when I talked to her on the phone.

“They’re saying we could get as much as 18-20 inches of rain before it’s over. We’ve got sandbags everywhere. I’m at a disaster, preparing for a disaster,” she said.

There are 14 volunteers helping her with more expected to arrive. Two are stranded in Houston.

The winds are at a steady 10 mph at the shelter but, so far, no rain.

“I can see the outer bands but, there’s still sunshine where we are,” she said. “We’ll just have to hunker down and ride it out.”

Cora is finishing up her two-week stint in Monroe and is scheduled to return to Greenville Saturday morning.

“I have a morning flight out but, we’ll see. We’ll see.”

Whaley waiting out storm

Pitt County Animal Shelter Director Michele Whaley and her group in Hattiesburg, Miss., are preparing for 70 mph winds from Hurricane Rita.
“It’s coming. We can feel the winds picking up and there are tornado watches, now,” Whaley said.
“We’ll hunker down until it passes.”
As of 3 p.m. they have experienced only scattered rains at the shelter where they are caring for 900 animals. They are moving some of those to a more centralized area, away from the storm. Supplies are also being moved indoors.
“You want to be prepared,” Whaley said.
Whaley planned to ship some supplies to the Monroe, La., shelter where Cora is in need of them but, Rita has cancelled those plans, for now.

In other news, United Animal Nations has issued a Press release announcing their commitment of $100,000 to help rebuild animal shelters damaged by Hurricane Katrina.