Just 11 days after Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s Gulf coast — and caused deadly flooding throughout Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and both Carolinas — Florida residents are bracing again for a new storm: Hurricane Milton.
Ahead of Milton, which strengthened to a Category 5 storm on the morning of October 7, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued evacuation orders for counties across Southwest Florida.
In a race against time, staff from the Humane Society of Broward County headed out to assist their sister branch in Manatee County, which is preparing for a “direct hit.”
“They’re taking enough crates to rescue eight dogs and 29 cats,” reported WSVN news anchor Jack Royer. “The pets will be brought to the Humane Society’s facility in Fort Lauderdale and will all need loving homes.”
The country is still reeling from the devastation of Helene, as rescue and recovery efforts for people — and animals — continue primarily in Florida and western North Carolina.
In Asheville, NC Brother Wolf Animal Rescue has been working “nonstop” to make sure every animal gets safely out of the disaster zone.
“We’re working around the clock. This is what we do,” Brother Wolf executive director Leah Craig Chumbley told a local FOX Weather station on October 4.
“Although we’re in very different conditions than normal, we care more than ever.”
As rescue animals continue to be evacuated from states impacted by Helene, northern shelters and rescues have been stepping up to help.
Last week, Providence Animal Center in Media, Pennsylvania received 21 dogs from shelters across southern Georgia.
“These dogs were already homeless before the hurricane,” PAC’s chief operating officer Victoria Kinden told CBS News.
“What we did was open spaces for them to help in the areas that are having issues, so that they have open kennels to help those displaced dogs, so that someone can come find their pet while down there.”
In D.C. and Northern Virginia, a nonprofit and a kennel — Homeward Trails Animal Rescue and District Dogs — teamed up to take in over 100 animals.
In a statement, executive director of Homeward Trails Sue Bell said: “As shelters across the country are filled to capacity, having safe, healthy space for our rescued animals to thrive while awaiting adoption is truly lifesaving.”
At both PAC and Homeward Trails, staff urged locals in the area to consider adopting the evacuated animals, or even temporarily foster them, as the Southeast prepares for another hurricane.
“The more space we can make through foster and adoption, the more we can help,” Kinden said. “We help locally all the time, but during these big needs and these hurricanes, we want to do what we can to help all our partners.”
Header image via Brother Wolf Animal Rescue in Asheville North Carolina