Operation Cat Box - Bugging Out with Pets

[Raptor]

After the recent impact of Hurricane Ida I had the pleasure of implementing my Pet Bugout Plan (a.k.a. Operation Cat Box) for the first time since 2005. I had tweaked my plan since 2005. It was successful and for the most part went off as planned.

For the record I stayed in NOLA for the storm because I decided it would be riskier to execute Operation Cat Box and run from Ida than to stay put and ride it out at my home in Metairie. In evacuation there may be substantial traffic, delays and risk vehicle breakdown that make evacuation a risky endeavor. Driving is dangerous and the riskiest activity most of us engage in daily add in people freaking out over a hurricane and the risk factor goes up a lot.

In this thread I discuss the preparations I made previously:
https://ufozs.com/smf/index.php?topic=34.msg195#msg195

The reality of Operation Cat Box:
A.   Assess current conditions and options.
After the storm passed I assessed the house as undamaged and safe but with the infrastructure (water, sewerage and comms) compromised I then waited 24 hours before venturing by vehicle to my office building to assess it. It was undamaged and habitable with the emergency generator running but had no comms and power restoration time frames were unknown. My home was a better option. I had made sure the employees on site were ok and they were happy to be in the air conditioned building. No need for my presence there.

After that I drove to the farm to check the route and its condition. There was little traffic and egress on the interstate was not problematic. The farm still had utility power and was fully functional. The internet and cell phone connectivity was poor normally but at least it was better than the zero comms I had at home and the office. The farm was outside of the disaster zone and due to better comms a much better option that either Metairie or the office building.

My wife hates generators and the noise they make. The fact that our neighborhood sounded like a truck stop with all the air cooled un-muffled whole house generators running annoyed the hell out of her (This btw is why my original generator was set up to be a quiet as possible) as did the fact that she could not take a shower or wash clothes or run the dishwasher and she was grossed over the boil water order and assumed the tap water was toxic. That coupled with the fact that I was running the "loud" NG generator instead of the "quiet one" I decided it was time to go spend some time at the farm.

The interesting part is the difference. After Katrina there was no generator noise audible for a couple of weeks now it seems most of my neighbors have large NG "whole house generators". 
When I do evacuate I take all of my pets. That means 7 cats and 1 Pekinese. I also feed 2 feral cats in my back yard. The feral cats do not come with me but do leave out food and water for them. 

B. Carrying Out the Plan
After making the call that remaining in the disaster area was not desirable I pulled out the check list:
1.   Alternate destination was safe to access, confirmed habitable and was attainable with the vehicle fuel
        on hand.
2.   I accessed the cat BOB as described in the post above.
3.   I accessed the document BOB and emptied the important document storage area.
4.   I obtained all pet carrying cases and put collars with tags on the cats...much to their disgust.
5.   I set up the 2 cars for transport. I topped off my gas tank with the fuel I had on hand. My wife's car still had a full tank. I have a "back porch" that fits on my car's trailer hitch. Both vehicles are big enough to carry all of the pets but my wife's car is much larger than mine. So was going to carry a couple of ice chests with the frozen food from the refrigerator and other perishable items as well as 2 cats and one dog. 
6.   I captured the cats and put them in the carriers. I started with the fastest & smartest ones otherwise I would be there all day. I ended with the laziest and slowest ones. They remained in the air conditioned house until the last minute. They are always loaded last.
7.   I put 1 full gas and a water proof container on my vehicle's back porch. It used that to carry several cats' boxes. I did this because the cats never go to the farm with us and I did not have enough cat boxes for them inside. I also hoped the scent and familiar cat boxes would prevent any accidents (or more likely "on purpose") at the farm.
8.   I then shut down the refrigerator and removed anything we did not take and threw it in the trash can. I also shut off the HVAC units and other electrical items. I was tempted to leave the generator running but did not. In retrospect I should have left the NG generator running and left the fridge, Pool pump and one HVAC unit running. I also filled up the cat feeder for the outside feral cats to ensure they had food.
9.   We then drove together the farm. It is important to stay together during an evacuation in case one of the vehicles has an issue. Getting back to a disabled vehicle may be very difficult. My cats sang me a "song of their people" the whole way. They hate cars and cages. The Pekinese on the other hand is always happy to go in the car anywhere with my wife.
10.   We made it to the farm without issue and unloaded the cats into the house.
Success!

The interesting part is that they settled into the house without any significant issue. I put the cat boxes on a screened in porch accessible by a dog door for them initially. They all hated that. The barn cats that live on the farm were fascinated by the new group of cats and would gather outside the screened porch to stare (& I assume make cat calls ) at the new cats.
The barn cats are pretty laid back and once it was clear they did not have to share their food or turf they went back to their barn cat chores.

Three of the Metairie cats had originated at the farm. For various health reasons they were brought back to Metairie for care and never went back to being barn cats. The other cats are inside only and also have various health issues including a geriatric cat who is living out the rest of her life in comfort. In short they all lead a sheltered life. The cats who originated at the farm knew exactly where they were and wanted no part of outside, even though in Metairie they are inside/outside cats. In fact one panicked thinking she was being brought back to stay and hid under a bed for two days. The youngest inside cat also hid under the bed with the panicked cat.

I had to reassess my cat box plan and put them someplace else. The screened porch which was ideal for me was not usable by the cats. 

I would note that when we finally left the 3 cats that originated at the farm basically walked into their carriers. They were ready to go home.

All in all Operation Cat Box was success. I used the same plan when it is was time to go back to the house in Metairie. That is the subject of another post.

I offer this not to tout my planning but rather to note that having a plan ahead of time makes the process a lot simpler and more likely to succeed. I was prepared to deviate from the plan and this was not a worst case scenario. I had a safe place to stay, a safe pre-arranged secure destination and high probability of success. 

[MPMalloy]

Awesome!

I'm so happy the Op went well.   Also, tnx for sharing this with us.   I know a couple who have their 1st Birthdays tomorrow