Hurricane season is underway and Escambia County wants to ensure your family is prepared in the event a disaster strikes. Develop a disaster plan, have supplies readily available and enough supplies, food and water for each member of your family and pets for at least 72 hours.
Disaster Supplies and Shopping List
If you plan to stay at home during a hurricane, you should have the following items on hand. It is a good idea to get these items at the beginning of hurricane season because as a storm approaches, stores become very busy and stock is depleted quickly. Use the 11-week shopping list to help you gather your supplies. Click here to view the complete list.
Important Telephone Numbers
In the event of an emergency, keep important telephone numbers in a safe place and in your vehicle. During a power outage your cell phone may run out of battery and you may be unable to access the numbers. Click here to view a list of local, state and federal government telephone numbers and area utility companies. It may also be helpful to add telephone numbers for family and friends to your list.
Medication and Important Documents
If you require daily medication, be sure to plan accordingly to ensure you have enough medication for an extended period of time, along with medical information and other important documents such as home and flood insurance information.
Sheltering with Pets
Pet owners should have a disaster plan that includes care for their pets.
Public, pet-friendly shelters are a much needed resource, but should not be your first choice if you have other options. Check with your pet-friendly relatives or friends who live outside the evacuation area. If that is not an option, try to locate pet-friendly lodging a safe distance away. Friends, family and hotels that allow pets are much more comfortable for you and your animals than pet-friendly public shelters. Escambia County has identified a pet-friendly shelter for dogs and cats only. The pet-friendly shelter should be a choice of last resort and pet owners should identify other locations to shelter their pets before disaster.
There is limited space at the pet-friendly shelter and pre-registration is required. Once the pet-friendly shelter is open, space is available on a first come first serve basis only. Pet owners will be required to shelter in the Red Cross shelter adjacent to where the pet-friendly shelter is located so they will be available to care for their pets as required. The people and pet-friendly shelters are separate facilities, but the buildings are next to each other.
Click here to view pre-registration information regarding sheltering with pets.
Pet Shelter
Pet shelter eligibility will be limited to household dogs and cats only. This will include only those pets that are traditionally kept in the home for pleasure and not for commercial purposes, can travel in commercial carriers and be housed in temporary facilities. Animals and pets not allowed include reptiles (including turtles), amphibians, fish, insects/arachnids, farm animals, livestock, rabbits, rodents, exotic animals and animals kept for racing purposes.
Upon arrival at the public shelter, a person must register at the general population shelter and must also register their pets as they are received in the pet shelter facility.
A pet must be registered with the county at the time of entry and must produce all the information required on the registration form to allow the pet into the facility. Cats and dogs will be separated as much as possible to minimize the stress of the animals.
Click here for additional information for animal disaster preparedness.
Click here for horses, livestock and equine disaster and shelter information.
Additional resources are listed below for your reference including an evacuation zones map, hurricane shelter list and address look-up tool, which allows you to enter your home address to learn if your home is within a flood zone, which commission district you are located and more.
During a weather event, be sure to follow @BeReadyEscambia on Twitter for the latest updates in Escambia County.
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