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Hurricane Florence

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Pam Green with Mason
Ramsey is now safe at Kent Animal Shelter.
Parker is now safe at Kent Animal Shelter.
Wilma is now safe at Kent Animal Shelter.
Demi is now safe at Kent Animal Shelter.
Faith, a 4-month-old black Lab rescued from South Carolina, is now safe at Kent Animal Shelter.
Jack is now safe at Kent Animal Shelter.
Katherine is now safe at Kent Animal Shelter.

By Heidi Sutton

Amid mandatory evacuation orders in the Carolinas and Virginia in advance of Hurricane Florence, many fleeing residents left their pets behind to fend for themselves. For those pets lucky enough to be rescued, they were brought to area shelters already full to capacity. When news spread the animals would start being
euthanized if no one adopted them, Kent Animal Shelter in Calverton quickly joined other outreach groups to make a difference.

Working in conjunction with Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, the shelter took in 12 dogs two weeks ago. “We then sent our own truck down to South Carolina and when they came back last Monday night they had 17 more,” said Pamela Green, Kent’s executive director.

The most recent group of dogs came from South Carolina’s Marlboro and Horry counties, two of the hardest hit areas devastated by flooding. “Those counties were still pretty much under water as recent as last Tuesday so those dogs were from people who lost their homes and relinquished the animals,” Green said. “The people probably don’t have places to live themselves at this point.” 

The new arrivals range in age from 9 weeks to 4 years and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The executive director said there are hound mixes “which are common in the South” as well as Labrador mixes and a few Chihuahuas. While many have already been adopted, all the dogs will be spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped before going to their new homes.

Shelters in areas ravaged by Hurricane Florence announced earlier this week that they are temporarily halting the transport of animals to give residents more time to reclaim their dogs. For the staff at Kent, however, this is only a short reprieve as they are expecting 10 dogs to arrive Sunday from a Missouri puppy mill.

According to Green, the shelter is always looking for foster homes. “Sometimes the animals we get in are a bit traumatized. In the case of the hurricane, they’ve already been exposed to some trauma so then they are transported a very long way and by the time they get here they’re pretty scared or nervous,” she said, adding, “Those animals usually come around more quickly in a foster home.”

Financial donations and supplies such as canned cat and dog food, paper towels, bleach, cat litter, treats, towels and blankets are also appreciated.

Kent Animal Shelter celebrates its golden anniversary this year. The private not-for-profit, located along the Peconic River, opened its doors in 1968. It rescues and finds homes for over 700 dogs and cats each year. “We had almost 100 adoptions this July alone,” said Green proudly, who has been at the helm of the no-kill facility for over 30 years. 

Several events have been planned to commemorate the anniversary including the upcoming Wines and Canines Run/Walk fundraiser at the Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard in Calverton Oct. 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are $30 per person at www.kentanimalshelter.com. 

For Green, working at the shelter is a labor of love filled with rewards and happy endings. “I’ve been doing this for 33 years and I still come to the same office because I feel that we are really making a difference here. Maybe we’re not going to save all the animals, but just saving the ones that we can get to changes their lives and changes the lives of people too,” she said. “I still get so much joy out of seeing an animal leave the shelter and go to a new home. It’s the greatest thing – it makes my day.”

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The emails, text messages and calls came from all over the country. In the days leading up to Hurricane Florence’s arrival in North Carolina, friends and family shared good wishes for my family, who had moved to the Tar Heel State during the summer.

Preparing for the storm, we were under the impression that we were leaving the typical path of hurricanes when we moved this far west to Charlotte, which is more than 200 miles from the coast.

As the tone and urgency to prepare for the hurricane from meteorologists and politicians reached a peak, people lined up outside supermarkets, waiting to park their cars and navigate their overflowing carts through crowded aisles for their list of must-haves.

Clearly, water and bread were on every list, as the shelves at the 24-hour supermarket didn’t have a drop of bottled water. The only remaining bread was a cranberry concoction that sat on an otherwise bare shelf, examined closely perhaps by a desperate shopper and discarded at a rakish angle, a lone bread crumb telling the tale of the hurricane hurry.

Gas stations brought the same crowds, as drivers were as anxious as they would be on Long Island to gather fuel before trucks might be delayed and gas lines could grow.

People often referred to 1989, when Hurricane Hugo ripped through Charlotte.

Two days before the hurricane reached the area, the public schools closed despite the clear skies and the relatively calm winds. Several of the schools transformed into shelters for residents of the city and for those fleeing from points further east.

The day before the storm, a local bank teller told me about a nearby store that received a new water shipment. The parking lot for this rare find was as empty as the shelves were full of fresh water.

On the day of the hurricane, the forecast for the area called for squalls and heavy rains through much of the day. We stared outside, judging how far the trees bent over and how hard the sheets of rain were blown into our windows. Did we dare go out, especially when we didn’t know areas of local flooding all that well?

I called the local bagel store, where the man who answered the phone said the store planned to remain open through the afternoon.

We looked at trees that provide shade for us in a typical day and are homes for all manner of songbirds to see if we could figure out which of our arboreal friends were the most dangerous — and vulnerable — in the storm.

Eager to get fresh food and to leave the house before it was impossible, we drove around a few downed branches to the store, where we made the mistake of shopping when we were hungry and in provision mode.

When our teenage children awoke, we triumphantly presented the food. They seemed mildly impressed.

We still had electricity until Sunday afternoon, up until the time when we learned that schools would be closed for another day, as trees were removed from the area and power companies restored energy.

The calls and emails from outside the state continued to come in, as supportive friends continued to check to see how we were doing.

Even as other areas of the state dealt with unprecedented flooding, strong winds and tornadoes, we considered ourselves fortunate only to have lost a few trees and power for a day.

As with the response to Hurricane Sandy, our new neighbors in Charlotte offered advice. We may have moved to a fresh environment, but we were heartened by the support from up close and afar in the face of nature’s fury.

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