Hurricane Ike vs Fender & Koda

[jennifer5799]

I did a search and didn't find anything, so forgive me if this has been talked about. I am directly in the path of Ike, but out of Storm Surge danger and not in an evacuation zone. However, because of hurricane force winds we are looking at possible (probable?) power outages. I have a million water bottles in the freezer to put into a cage/carrier with them (and some of those packs that you just mash up and they turn cold, no ice required) in the case of no air conditioning, but I was wondering if anyone has any other ideas? I also have backup kibble (YUCK) in case the meat goes bad. My dogs aren't as big of a concern because of the heat thing (they can cope better). Anyhoo, any ideas will be appreciated!

Thanks,
~Jenn

[squishy506]

Count on the power going out. For Rita, my Louisiana family had power outages, but my dad's house just a few miles away never lost power, and he was able to watch his satellite TV the whole time, so you never know.

Just a few things to consider. Put lots of water bottles & jugs in the freezer. Designate the freezer to just these items. Put bags of ice in a tub so you can have cold water or any water if the plumbing is whack.

If you can afford it, buy a small generator and a window unit A/C. Keep the ferrets near the A/C and have the generator running when the temperature reaches really high points, otherwise, give them the water bottles to snuggle with.

And you may have to give them kibble because even a grocery store with raw meat might not be operating.

[tsslilsis]

Earlier this year we were having fires in the mountains as well as damaging winds.. The power went out for about three days but everything in the freezer (meat) was still fine. Some was thawed but the stuff that stayed frozen kept everything else cold. If your a member of Freecycle, I'd ask for a small generator.

If you have or can get some small (or big) ceramic tiles and stick them in the freezer, they are good for keeping the fuzzies cold too. And also dry ice keeps for about 24-48 hours in just a cooler so you could keep some in the freezer so it keeps everything cold.

-~Ketlin

[jennifer5799]

oooooo - I like the ceramic tile idea - I think we have some spares in the bathroom!

Noone in the area is going to part with a generator, they're generally in short supply, and we can't afford to buy one unfortunately (not sure if there's anyplace still open that sells them). However, our neighbor across the street has one and I'm sure if it came down to life or death she'd let us stick the fuzzies in front of a fan over there or something. I've got tons of water bottles (in the fridge and freezer), and ice packs, the tub will be filled with water, etc. We've got plenty of food (people, dog and ferret lol) and whatnot as well. We're pretty well prepared, just concerned about the temperature if the power stays out for a long period of time. I'd imagine if it winds up being too horrible here we'll get some "assistance" once it's over with. Anyhoo, thanks for the ideas!

~Jenn

[Forum Administrator]

Dont they have ice pack things that you store at room temp and then you can crack them (like a glow stick) and then they "get cold" obvious they arent really ice but I could have sworn there was something like that. Might be good to have.

Stay safe Jenn!

[jennifer5799]

Yeah they do I have several of those for just this reason. I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could in the given situation.

[suds]

keep us posted on on things are going down there when you can ..
BTW most modern Freezers are designed to last at leats 24 hours before they start to gain heat inside , I always turned my setting down as far as they could go to get everything as cold as possible as well as fill it as much as possible with anything that would hold water , we have had power out several times down at the shore that lasted several days and never lost any food in the freezers , Just remember to try to open the freezer as little as possible .
a trick we use to use for the dogs in bad heat was to wet old sheets with cold water and wrap them in it and put them around and in there crates sure the same (except for wrapping them) could also work for ferret cages . the downfall is you have to rewet them with cold water every hour or so

Goodlluck

[jennifer5799]

We survived Ike! We were without power for 10 days, but fortunately the first few days the weather cooperated and it was fairly cool. It did get warm the last few days, but I never once caught the ferrets panting, or even seemingly perturbed. They got a lot more outside time than normal, since we were outside more than normal - it was cooler outside than in the house! They ate kibble most of the week, but are now back on raw with no qualms. Well, Fender has none, anyhow. I don't think Koda likes it very much, and I have yet to actually see him eating it, but he's pooping and he hasn't lost weight, so I assume he is! Hopefully when I can get my hands on some whole prey he'll respond more enthusiastically! Anyhoo, I had lots of time to work on my utility/ferret/laundry/craft/computer room during the last week +, and it's almost ready for free roaming ferrets! Yay! I'm busy catching up on all the things I couldn't do with no power (laundry, etc) but I should have it done within a couple weeks!

Ok, I'll stop rambling and run, I know I keep saying this, but I'll be more active again soon, assuming there's no more hurricanes to deal with! (Ike ruined both mine and my son's bdays and there's no school until Monday, so we've got some busy makin up time ahead! )

[Forum Administrator]

Yikes what a disaster! We got hit pretty hard by Ikes winds here in MISSOURI I cant imagine what it was like down south!!!

I can't wait for life to be (somewhat ) calmer and in order for ya, Jenn. We miss ya!

[weloveourweasels]

I'm glad you all made it out OK I beginning to worry. Winds hit hard up here one night as well (TN) Knocked over a huge tree in the neighbors yard. Luckily it went the opposite direction and didn't hit their house or ours. What did you do when the power was out (entertainment wise?)

[squishy506]

One Chicago neighborhood even had four feet of flood waters from all the raining left by Ike. When I was living in Louisiana, I never knew how much other states are affected by hurricanes.

We're so glad you're safe and that no one suffered from heat stroke. I'm looking forward to your free range room. I hope you post pictures. I love looking at everyone's ferret "quarters."

Now the big question...how did you not pull all your hair out when you went 10 days without the internet? I would have beat my head against the walls!

[jennifer5799]

Thanks, Ya'll :-) We have a wow buddy up in Ohio and Ike left 1 million people in the Cincinnati area without power, too - I don't know for how long though.

Entertainment-wise. Well, we spent Sunday and Monday cleaning the front and back yards, hauling tree limbs, etc. The rest of the week was spent on household chores we've never gotten around to thanks to the distractions of internet and tv, lol. Hubby took apart and cleaned the motorcycles, cleaned his half of the garage, stole my table and moved his computer out here, caulked the storage shed (which amazingly made it trhough Ike with no issues! ) etc. I unpacked a lot of boxes, moved some into the shed, got my part of the garage (the utility/ferret/laundry/craft/computer room, from here on out I'll just call it the ferret room or my office for ease of typing!) cleaned up and semi-organized.

We spent the evenings together sitting out front with hubby playing guitar and sang songs and hymns, we talked, we had Bible studies. We went to bed early and got up early. We played with the dogs and ferrets more.

Mostly, we killed mosquitoes the size of small hawks. I'm still amazed that none of them carried any of my dogs away, . Seems like every one I killed was bigger than the last!

The first couple days without internet was rough, but after that it wasn't too bad. It was kind of nice not having the distractions. Sucked when we had to miss our tv shows and couldn't record them with the DVR, but my aunt in Dallas recorded them for us and mailed them . Anyhoo, that's our adventures. Looks like I'm going to have some time, at least in the evenings during the week (and some mornings), to be on here now Yay!!

I'm going to try and read some more posts now!