As the winds blow on
And the waters rise deep
You can hear their cries
You can hear them weep
Those you have brought into your home
Those who are loyal, caring and warm.
You feed them each day, and tell them to stay
And now when they need you, don’t turn them away.
When you vowed to love, when you vowed to care
You vowed to sacrifice, and vowed to prepare.
So now in times of trouble and strife
You are responsible for more than one life.
You need to plan, think, and prepare
For all those who need you
Those who depend on your care.
— Cindy Swancott Lovern

In the last decade, it seems we’ve seen more than our share of man-made and natural disasters in which entire towns or villages have been destroyed, homes and businesses lost, families displaced, and people injured or killed. The most deadly disasters of the decade so far in terms of human fatalities were the 2003 heat waves across Europe and a 2005 earthquake in Pakistan which took over 70,000 lives each. There was the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 which left almost a quarter million dead. In 2008, an earthquake in China killed over 85,000 and a cyclone in Myanmar took the lives of almost 140,000 people. And in January of this year, a massive earthquake struck Haiti and is estimated to have killed over 300,000 residents and visitors. In the U.S. alone since 2000 we’ve experienced disasters including:
9/11/01 terror attacks
Hurricanes including Katrina in 2005
Tornadoes
Flooding
Wildfires
Building fires
Airplane crashes
Other disasters both natural and man-made

If you live in an area where you might lose power due to storms, hurricanes, fires, etc you need to be proactive in always being prepared to manage your ME dog. That takes plenty of thought and preparation, so doing it ahead of time when you can think carefully about what is needed is CRITICAL. Saving this process until you have little or no time doesn’t work with remembering every detail needed in event you lose all power.
What happens to your dog(s) if power goes out due to an emergency situation or natural disaster?
What will you do with your pet(s) in event of an emergency or disaster and power lose?
What will you do afterwards pending damage or outages?

Question: What I would do if the power went out for a long period of time?
–   How would you handle caring for your dog when there is no power?
–   How would you keep Knox Blox cold? How would you blend or grind the food?
–   How would you keep you cell charged?
–   How would you get gas?
–   How would you get out of your garage if electric opener if you evacuate?
–   How would you stay warm or cool inside house?
–   How would you know what is happening elsewhere?
–   How would you pay for things such as gas, food, etc?
There are dozens more questions to ask yourself but each of us has our own individual set of preparation plans we need to have in place pending where you live and what emergencies might cause you to lose power and/or evacuate.

Tips from ME owners:
“If you have a few dollars to spare and make it into town where there is a Target/Walmart or even an auto parts store….you can get a “jumper box”..(Not sure of its real name, but that’s what I call it). Its a box you can plug up to charge and then carry it with you in the car..as it has “jumper cables” and also an air compressor built (I know right about now you can’t figure out why the heck I’m recommending this). Most of them also have an AC/DC electrical outlet on them (as well as a “car” cigarette type outlet)..its just a little bigger than a car battery ad weighs about that too..(So not too heavey)….we used ours to charge our cellphone,laptop computer and run a fan and radio (not all at the same time) when our power went out several years ago from a hurricane.. we never even pulled out our gas generator (That is so loud and then all I worry about is the Carbon Dioxide fumes..).was well worth the $69.00 we paid for it (ours was from
COSTCO)…I’m sure it would run your nebulizer for a few days worth of treatments…which hopefully by then the power would be on.”

“We are in Houston and actually went thru a hurricane with our dogs (Sonnig – ME and brother Angel Panz – non ME). We do our homework and prep way in advance so not caught up in the furry that ensues prior to one even presenting great rain events. We are far enough inland to hunker down and shelter in place, but power issues were extreme, plus we periodically get them during rain events here. Neighbors had a huge industrial generator, so we could store our frig items. We cooked using BBQ and camping equip, but lucky power was only out 3 days up here. Bought a generator afterwards that can run the frig, fans and light.researched exactly what we needed. Well thought out and listed prep is the best course of action. I have already stocked up (and will stay that way thru the season) on everything Sonnig would need including meds. If you want some help with a list, feel free to email me privately and will send what we have. Also include evacuation possibility. Since places don’t usually take dogs and hotels are hard to find once that happens, have a place just in case. My list is comprehensive, but our baby is the love of our lives.”

Some miscellaneous items specific to losing power:
Extra propane tank for a gas grill
Car charger for cell phone
Combination electric and battery backup garage door opener
Portable TV and/or radio
Plenty of flashlights and batteries to fit them
Some type of lantern to set on counter or table
Battery powered fan(s) to cool dogs down
Generator
Gas your vehicles and have extra if running a generator
Handheld can opener
A way to mix your dogs food if blended, slurry, etc
A way to keep your dogs food and Knox Blox cold (if at all possible)
Again, these are just items others have to deal with potential power outages. Your list will be specific to your area and what you might experience but PLAN AHEAD!!!!!

Other chapters to check:
Emergencies
Evacuation
First Aid
Hurricane