can you tell me how to be tornado ready.

[macawgirl]

never in a million years did i think i would have to worry about this in hammond indiana. a couple of months ago, was a jewel store in munster indiana and a tornado touched down aroudn the store, so we had to go in the back of the building and when the tornado circled the store we had to move to different areas. freaked the crap out of me. so i have been in the midst of one already, well last night, we had warnings and the sirens were going off, and im not prepaired. i grabbed the macaws and the amazon and grey and went into the basement and into a big walk in close type of storage room. it was a tool room. the sump pump is down in that room. i realized how unpreparied i am. the only carrier i own was in the car. i know number one i need to get 2 big carriers for the macaws to have one and the grey and zon to have one.

what do i do though if a tornado would have come in my home, with the birds and me though, how do not have it pull my birds carriers away from me? do i need to strap me and them down to something? when i wasnt home they were in there cages with the windows open just as fluke cuz it was hot in my house. luckily i just lost power, just like yesterday i lost power and we had a horendus storm.

but.... 15 mins or so east in griffith indiana, my cousins happened to come home from tennesse visiting to their house being gone. tornado tore the roof off of their house and everything they have is gone. so im freaking out. that is not just really close to wear i am, but that is my family as well.

so what do you do to be prepaired with birds (and cats) in a tornado? im so upset i have been fighting tears all day, and now anytime it rains i will have fear.

thanks.

[Amie]

Can you really be tornado ready? When our sirens go off, we just go to the utility room and wait it out, all animals, too. We can't have basements, but I would assume that having carriers in the basement would be the safest thing.

I don't think you'd want to strap the carriers to you. If the tornado were to start pulling them away from you, you would either just go with them or You'd end up losing a limb. I'd strap the carriers to a water pipe or something that goes deep into the ground. That last scene in "Twister" wasn't realistic at all, but having them strapped to something that has less a chance of "giving" would be best, I'd think.

Maybe invest in a storm shelter? It may just be a freak season for you, though.

Maybe someone from Kansas or Oklahoma can answer this better.

[thejoie]

I'm from Chicago, we had a tornado warning last night too! Those were some bbaaadddd storms! Luckily my room is in the basement. But regardless, I think you should have carriers in the safest area in the house....

[kellywess]

Macaw girl youy are very fortunate that you have a basement. Like "amiestgermain" we here in Virginia Beach do not have the luxury of basements. This season we have had tornadoes touch down close by in Suffolk. Also, we have hurricane season. All of my birds will drink from a water bottle. They all also have their own carriers. I have a huge closet that I try to keep clear during this time of the year just in case. The shelves will hold all birds carriers with room left over for me, hubby and the kitty puss. Honestly I dont really know any other way to be prepared. We own alot of battery powered coleman lanterns and we have a generator.

[huntress]

The best medicine for this is practice practice practice. The best way I would think is to have some cages (smaller type) in the basement all the time (like sleep cages?) Practice calmly stepping up and going to the basement one at a time and then maybe two at a time until its regular business to go down and play for a bit. I personally would do playstands and perches. I feel they have a better chance of surviving if the were loose rather than caged even if they did fly away. Once you have the routine established it will be easy to do when the sirens go off. The important thing is to keep calm no matter what - they will feed off of your emotions. Do you have a workshop in the basement? Make one. Take them down with you and work or do laundry - whatever. Have playstands and some jugs of fresh water and dry food in dry airtight containers. Keep the carriers down there in case you have to leave later. You should also consider carrier training your bird with yummy treats BEFORE you ever need to use the carriers BEFORE ever going anywhere. It makes all the times when you HAVE to so much less stressful for your fids.

[huntress]

LOL, this makes me think of a time I had a bird shipped. I thought "it would really suck to be a bird on a plane that is going down"lol!!!

[Copper]

I keep carriers near the cages at all times. We've had several occasions this year to 'test'. A big nervous beak can do some serious damage in an emergency, so there is a weekly practice, not just for them, but for me...
Pop into carriers, and two go down at once... 6 carriers get stacked in the store room, and wrapped in blankets. Bottles of water stay down there at all times as well as metal containers of food, both human, bird and dog. Waterproof packets with medical supplies, matches are in another ziplock. Air mattresses are a good thing as well as sleeping bags, all in waterproof containers so no bugs or rodents. Extra flashlights are good, check monthly to make sure batteries are good, and keep extra batteries. We also have a generator.

[papayamama]

You can buy one of those weather radios that lets out an alarm whenever severe weather is approaching. I don't know how much they cost but my in-laws have one and they usually call us when it goes off. I would keep a kit down in your basement full of everything you'll need like water, food, radio, flashlights, first aid, medication, etc. etc.

[mmr]

Originally Posted by macawgirl

never in a million years did i think i would have to worry about this in hammond indiana.

I live in Decatur, Indiana, 20 minutes south of Fort Wayne. We get LOTS of alarmes and sirens. We actually just had one go through my town about 4 blocks form my hose. but of course I didn't take it seriously as we already had 5 (SIRENS) earlier that week.

I have 2 carriers sitting in my basement along with 2 large blankets to cover my birds and my son's. Flashlights (cause no candle rule), and I have some of the birds pellets in an air tight freezer bag!


That makes us approximatly 3 hours away from each other

[huntress]

LOTS of good info here - great thread!