KatrinaM Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 http://www.goldcoastmail.com.au/story/2011...open-in-cairns/ SIX evacuation centres will open in and around Cairns early tomorrow to take in people ahead of Cyclone Yasi's arrival. Authorities want people who are forced to leave their homes to stay with family and friends, but say not everyone has that option. Cairns Regional Council says those who have no alternative can go to evacuation centres to open from 6am (AEST) at: - Redlynch High School - James Cook University - Smithfield State High School - Babinda RSL - Mossman Community Indoor Sports Centre - Woree State High School Conditions at the centres will be spartan, with evacuees urged to bring their own bedding, food and medications. No pets will be allowed at the centres, the council said. Yasi is expected to hit as a severe category four storm around Cairns about 1am (AEST) on Thursday, bringing very destructive winds, torrential rain and causing storm surges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Saw that. and that they had to turn people away too. Lives will probably be lost as a result. Appalling lack of planning by local government. But the lesson is there for all of us. The only person you can rely on to protect and keep your pets safe is you. Flight looked like the best option. All I can hope is when they slug us again to rebuild that they spend some money in preparation for the next one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baifra Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 The 'higher powers' need to finally realise that pets are an important part of people's lives. People WILL die because they refused to leave their pets behind and evacuate. I can't ever imagine leaving my dogs behind to evacuate but do not judge those who do. a mile in their shoes and all!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss B Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 People need to be preparing earlier and not leaving it until the very last minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anniek Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 I saw a man with his dog on tv in one of the centres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozjen Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 People need to be preparing earlier and not leaving it until the very last minute. Perhaps some people are not in the financial position to leave and have no accomadation option other than the evac. centres. I know there have been plenty of times in my life where I would not be in a position to leave if I didn't have the great family I have. Plenty of people have to live week to week, have no savings to fall back on and no spare money for accomadation or fuel or even a reliable car to drive to safety and not everyone has somebody they can stay with. There are probabaly many reasons for people staying but whatever the reasons I hope they all come through this cyclone safely along with their families (skin, feather and fur). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Given that even people are being told they can't go into evacuation centres (see this article), I'm not surprised that pets aren't permitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Saw that. and that they had to turn people away too. Lives will probably be lost as a result.Appalling lack of planning by local government. But the lesson is there for all of us. The only person you can rely on to protect and keep your pets safe is you. Flight looked like the best option. All I can hope is when they slug us again to rebuild that they spend some money in preparation for the next one. I so agree. I told my OH I would shoot my dogs before I left them to fend for themselves in a 300KM cyclone. His response was "No one gets left behind..bugger the evacuation centres. We take food, water, camping gear, crate the dogs and cats, we would just go to family or simply camp out until it was safe to return home." Of course we are just talking hypothetically and bushfires are the most likely reason to flee here in Vic. Stay safe all you people up North. Hold tight tonight and I pray it isn't as bad a it appears it will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwenneth1 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 (edited) I had a friend (had multiple trips getting her kids, horses ,dogs and cats out), the final trip was to collect two remaining dogs. Unfortunately the fires closed around and she was choppered out. They said she would have to leave the dogs, she said bugger off (well stronger than that) and said she would burn with them. They took them all. What would happen if you rocked up with your pets? I don't think some officious evacuation worker would be game to make you sit outside with them, just imagine the media getting hold of that one? I would NOT leave my four legged family behind. Imagine the terror of those animals locked up and left to face that without their pack leader-no bloody way!!! Edited February 2, 2011 by gwenneth1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 (edited) What would happen if you rocked up with your pets? I don't think some officious evacuation worker would be game to make you sit outside with them, just imagine the media getting hold of that one? I would NOT leave my four legged family behind. Imagine the terror of those animals locked up and left to face that without their pack leader-no bloody way!!! I'm not sure they would care. If you look at the article I linked to above, it says this: Australian police turned people away from jammed evacuation shelters on Wednesday as a huge cyclone neared the northeast coast, leaving many to wait outside in the open, praying police will relent and squeeze them in before the storm arrives. And this: At a shopping centre which serves as a shelter in Cairns, a tourist city destined to feel Yasi's wrath within hours, Selwyn Hughes stood with his family in the uncovered carpark and said his only comfort for the moment was in numbers."There are so many of us here. Surely they have to do something, find somewhere safer to move us to before it arrives," Hughes said, squatting on a pink suitcase with his five children, aged two to 13. The family's only possessions were a small box of food, including a tin of powdered milk, and clothes and a pram for two-year-old daughter Minoota. Around them 80 others sat on the ground and shared advice or sympathy. And this: "It's making it very difficult. We're disappointed we can't take any more people in, but I've been through in there and it's just not safe," said acting police inspector John Bosnjak. As for pets: Sitting near Hughes, Morgana Bartlett watched over her bronze and green pet Rainbow Lorikeet, named Pumpkin, which like other pets was not allowed inside the centre, even in a cage. So it looks like for the centres that are full, they aren't even letting in children let alone pets even though as mentioned above there were 80+ people sitting out in the open. Very, very sad ... Edited February 2, 2011 by koalathebear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 I had a friend (had multiple trips getting her kids, horses ,dogs and cats out), the final trip was to collect two remaining dogs. Unfortunately the fires closed around and she was choppered out. They said she would have to leave the dogs, she said bugger off (well stronger than that) and said she would burn with them. They took them all.What would happen if you rocked up with your pets? I don't think some officious evacuation worker would be game to make you sit outside with them, just imagine the media getting hold of that one? I would NOT leave my four legged family behind. Imagine the terror of those animals locked up and left to face that without their pack leader-no bloody way!!! Well they have already turned people away from the evacuation centres and I believe the centres are in a safety area so there would not be anyone sitting outside during a cyclone (I hope!) There was much discussion of this after the floods and the sad fact is that there just are no provisions made for pets in these centres. One always hears of these stories of pets reunited with owners AFTER they return to there beshambled homes. But I imagine that for every happy story there would be countless sad endings for pets and their owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwenneth1 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Jesus...........sad is right.........I would really like to see the follow up for that....I simply cannot fathom somebody beating at the door to get in with somebody shaking there head and saying no, especially with a camera trained upon them. What is really awful is right up to an hour ago, on the news it had scrolling down the bottom all the names of the evacuation centres, imagine turning up and beingdenied entry..... That is eerily similar with some aspects of New Orleans... Some was due to not taking the situation seriously but some was due to the fact a lot of people simply didn't have the means to get out and a huge lack of foresight by the authorities. A lot simply died. I feel the same sense of sadness as I did with the Vic bushfires...all those people and all those animals....... I hope to hell that some sort of miracle occurs and it dissipates at sea.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 How about the RSPCA start to bend their minds to the task of a pet friendly evac centre. They just need to be allocated a safe space and all the rest of the stuff needed can be trucked in. Most people don't own a crate for their dog or cat and I wonder how much of the resistance to pets is because most people can't contain them. One designated "pet friendly" centre with a bunch of crates, pet food and water would be a godsend. I'd sure donate to see it happpen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazzapug Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 We saw the news too...so sad for anyone turned away from centres....they had no where else to go but back home...I wonder how full all the underground carparks were? Perhaps there needs to be more underground carparks or tunnels for people to be able to take their pets with them. I too believe in "No-one gets left behind"....we have a few Pug friends up there so really scary worrying about their safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Jesus...........sad is right.........I would really like to see the follow up for that....I simply cannot fathom somebody beating at the door to get in with somebody shaking there head and saying no, especially with a camera trained upon them. What is really awful is right up to an hour ago, on the news it had scrolling down the bottom all the names of the evacuation centres, imagine turning up and beingdenied entry..... That is eerily similar with some aspects of New Orleans... Some was due to not taking the situation seriously but some was due to the fact a lot of people simply didn't have the means to get out and a huge lack of foresight by the authorities. A lot simply died. I feel the same sense of sadness as I did with the Vic bushfires...all those people and all those animals....... I hope to hell that some sort of miracle occurs and it dissipates at sea.......... That's what I'm thinking...they could use a miracle right about now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 We saw the news too...so sad for anyone turned away from centres....they had no where else to go but back home...I wonder how full all the underground carparks were? Perhaps there needs to be more underground carparks or tunnels for people to be able to take their pets with them. I too believe in "No-one gets left behind"....we have a few Pug friends up there so really scary worrying about their safety. Underground carparks in a storm surge area will be death traps. You'd be crazy to be in one in any of the coastal towns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrotpea Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Here's hoping the storm isn't as bad as expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazzapug Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 We saw the news too...so sad for anyone turned away from centres....they had no where else to go but back home...I wonder how full all the underground carparks were? Perhaps there needs to be more underground carparks or tunnels for people to be able to take their pets with them. I too believe in "No-one gets left behind"....we have a few Pug friends up there so really scary worrying about their safety. Underground carparks in a storm surge area will be death traps. You'd be crazy to be in one in any of the coastal towns. Never knew about storm surges till now, ta Poodlefan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 (edited) This issue of the pets not allowed in evac centres in Cairns, came up when 2 Qld politicians were talking on Local ABC Radio, about all disaster issues. Lib, Tim Nichols & Labour, Cameron Dick. Cameron Dick just dismissed the issue of pets. But Tim Nichols surprised me. He said he was the the 'feeder' & 'cleaner-upper' for a little band of pets, so he thought the pet issue was something we have to think about. In a big place like Cairns, maybe they could've designated just one evacuation centre for people with pets. Put all pet owners in one place. Places like showgrounds, maybe. I noticed in the smaller towns, like Ingham & Innisfail, they had no problems with pets being included in evac centres. Nice to see the TV footage of pets with their families. It seemed people were responsible. Cats in carriers & dogs on leads or on laps. Disasters can be picky....like only sections of Brisbane were hit by the floods. And mostly people from low lying suburbs were evacuated to centres in Cairns. So if pets could be put into the temporary care of volunteer foster-carers in nearby safe areas, that might help, too. RSPCA Qld has started an Emergency Foster Carer data-base. People can sign in to say they'd be willing to provide safe, dry temporary shelter. Form to fill in, is here: http://www.facebook.com/notes/rspca-qld-in...150173854240620 There's also another data base for people who want to sign in to be called on to help with wildlife. Edited February 5, 2011 by mita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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