I continue to contemplate about how horrible Hurricane Dorian was to the people, animals, and environment of the Bahamas. I am a Southern Californian now living, and most likely remaining, in South Florida, and I’ve been through both earthquakes and hurricanes. Both are frightening, and both get more devastating in tandem with strength.
Hurricane Irma was the worst I’d been through and it was a category 3. My seven dogs and I were trapped in a friend’s hurricane proof house for three days. I also had one board-and-train, who I continued to housetrain. Once the waters came, I kept her in a dry crate and kept her housetraining skills intact.
Yes, it was flood waters, not the hurricane force winds, that totaled our vehicles…
and damaged the buildings and belongings stored in them on my friend’s property. No humans or animals perished, gratefully.
Minnows and other small fish swam through the house and lived with us for those days. The buildings in which we sheltered needed months and months worth of repair. My friend’s property, at the time, was not in a flood zone. I was and am, and though my house sustained wind and water damage from rains, it did not sustain flood water damage.
The first thing I did was spend 12 hours picking up roof shingles and their nails, most importantly. After that, I kept on going from one project to the other. But I still trained dogs, which is my calling and kept me sane and present in normalcy.
Back to the escape. After 3 days of being stranded, my dogs and I were rescued by friends on a floating dock. The process was slow, but we were and still are ever thankful for their help.
From there a husband and wife answered a call for help on a Facebook post. Two complete strangers came to my rescue to drive my seven crated dogs, one big red Dobie I agreed to foster, and I, the 25 minutes back to my yet unseen post-Irma home. Remembering that there was no electricity and gas lines were long, I call that hugely generous. I recall the man was a high school coach and the wife was the animal lover who he loved very much.
These memories are tough to revisit. I hadn’t planned on doing so, but Hurricane Dorian’s powerful 5 strength and the thoughts of the struggles of the Bahamian people and animals during Her pounding has made these memories resurface and poke at me.
Struggling to stay alive while the waters and winds overpower that will of life is a place no one wants to be. But finding yourself in dire straights even with level-headed, pre-planning can happen. When you find yourself in a life threatening place, your heart pounds, as you depend on the skills you’ve developed and the logical thinking you can implore to save your life and any others you can attend to.
To be a survivor of the wrath of Mother Nature is cause to celebrate. To be a mourner and to have to bow your head for your loved ones and those who didn’t survive is heartbreaking and deeply painful, whether those you mourn were human, animal, or even a beloved tree or other planted being. Even the loss of a beloved vehicle is mournful, or your entire or parts of your home. In that place of pain and suffering, we also heal and eventually rebound. It’s step by step. And often people need help to help themselves and the others who depend on them when times of devastation hit.
An article in the Miami Herald. ‘Raging river’ kills 113 dogs and cats at Bahamas shelter. Survivors coming to Florida describes some of the horrors those who stayed at the Humane Society of The Grand Bahamas experienced. This is a snippet from the article:
“The water rose so high that six staffers and three dogs climbed into a crawl space in the ceiling for about two hours before they swam to safety as the waters receded through a drainage system at the shelter.
But 113 dogs and cats died, (Tip) Burrows said. About 156 dogs and cats, including 26 pets relocated to the shelter before the storm, survived.”
Hurricane Irma Flood
I can’t imagine being in the skin of those who went through that. They are among the ones who survived and now need help to rebuild their lives. These animal lovers and hands-on animal care advocates surely would be thankful for anything you and I can add to their funds to ease their financial burdens to get that done and continue their good work saving abandoned pets’ lives.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we can help them hands on? I remember wishing for one of those super heroes to fly down from the sky to help me when I was recovering from Hurricane Irma. Well, that didn’t happen, but getting through the insurance woes and then finding the right contractors was a good enough sub for the super heroes. And all that takes money, especially when insurance doesn’t cover the jobs that need to be done, or there is no insurance.
We South Floridians (and any other of us) have our own lives to lead and it’s not possible to offer hands-on service to the islands, but our Bahamian pet-dog guardians will appreciate and use anything you can donate to their cause through Save The Potcakes official Gofundme link.
If you donate even a dollar, you will get brief updates of the progress these strong animal-loving people are making to rise up and rebuild again. They need our support, so if you haven’t donated, but meant to, please visit the site and do so. This is their official page. (Other copycat ones are out there and are not legitimate and who knows where the money is going through them.) So please use their Save The Potcakes official Gofundme link if you plan to help out financially.
This is a sample post from yesterday, September 12, 2019. And one of 3 photos from the post made by Jacque Petrone.
YESTERDAY
by Jacque Petrone, Organizer
Last night 159 (73 dogs and 86 cats) battered – but not broken – beautiful souls made their way to safe harbor. Tonight 10 dogs and 1 cat have been transported out. H.A.L.O. No Kill Rescue and St. Hubert’s took the dogs and cats that survived a history making storm providing relief to the Director and staff at Grand Bahama Humane Society.
Speaking for the dogs and a single pot-cat, H.A.L.O. Rescue can attest that they are the most incredible and grateful group we have ever had the pleasure.
Speaking with Tip Burrows, GBHS Director, tonight we laughed that her animals have had a hot shower and AC long before she will.
H.A.L.O. set up this fund with Tip’s permission as the hurricanes were coming towards us knowing that Grand Bahama would have the initial devastation, but never knowing the extent of the damage.
This Go Fund Me is solely for the purpose of providing The Grand Bahama Humane Society the funds to rebuild. Their people are Heroes. Their animals are grateful warriors.
With your help they will overcome.
Thank you for your outpouring of donations and support.
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Photo taken by owner Alex White
As for me, I shall head out tomorrow in a potential tropical storm watch, which I hope will avoid both the Bahamas and Florida, to meet with my newest board-and-train, an Aussie named Carbon, who I’m very much looking forward to training.
I just realized today marks the approximate, if not exact date that I was rescued from the flooded house after Hurricane Irma. It’s 2 years later and life is back to normal for me. It took me a year of insurance battling and contractor hunting to rebuild my home from Irma’s wrath. Though the sore spot on my soul and emotions are still navigating the healing waters within. And because of that and human empathy, I can extend my prayers of support and monetary contributions to those who bore the wrath of Dorian, when it could have been us in Florida instead.
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Helen Verte Schwarzmann
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