Houston SPCA

1
Houston SPCA

• Who we are.
• Our commitment to animals in disasters.

2
(No Transcript)
3
Local Plans

• Harris County DAM Task Force
• 13 County Region 2 AIC

4
HURRICANE IKE

• Hurricane Ike made landfall on September 13, 2008
  at 210am.
• The estimated total damage to U.S. coastal and
  inland areas is 24 billion.
• 88 Texas counties were declared disaster areas in
  preparation for Hurricane Ike.
• At its peak intensity, Hurricane Ike's diameter
  was 420 miles.

5
Hurricane Ike Getting Ready

• Held strategy meetings with staff, volunteers and
  other agencies such as Harris County PHES, etc.
• Animal Incident Command Center -established T-24
  hours at the Houston SPCA.

6
Hurricane Ike - Getting Ready

• Adoption animals at Houston SPCA were placed in
  shelters around Texas to make room for animals
  from other coastal shelters.
• Storm Riders - Staff and volunteers stayed the
  night at the shelter during the hurricane.

7
Hurricane Ike Hits

• Sustained winds 109 mph.
• Wave height 40-50 feet.
• Storm surge 15-20 feet.
• A category 2 hurricane.

8
Hurricane Ike Response

• Houston SPCA campus suffered damage to buildings,
  barns, fences and signs.
• Houston SPCA was on generator power for 10 days.

9
Hurricane Ike Response

• No potable water.
• Fuel shortages.
• Within hours hundreds of animal victims, domestic
  and wild, began arriving at the shelter.

10
Hurricane Ike Response

• Staff and volunteers took thousands of calls at
  the Houston SPCA phone banks.
• Highly trained first responders began arriving at
  the Shelter to assist with disaster response.
• The deployment was coordinated by the Society of
  Animal Welfare Administrators.
• Other teams around the country were on stand-by
  for deployment.

11
Hurricane Ike Response

• 20 trucks/trailers, several rescue water crafts
  and a Mobile Veterinary Response bus and triage
  unit were deployed.
• Teams delivered 40,000 pounds of pet food and
  1,000 gallons of water to the Island.

12
Hurricane Ike Response

• Galveston Island Humane Societys shelter was
  destroyed.
• In less than 24 hours the Houston SPCA and teams
  from around the country established a new
  animal shelter in an old police department
  substation.

13
Hurricane Ike Response

• The temporary shelter was stocked with food,
  crates, supplies, and medical equipment.
• An online Disaster Pet Portal was established and
  every animal rescued or brought to the Houston
  SPCA or the Galveston Island Humane Society was
  photographed and his/her picture was placed
  online within hours of rescue.

14
Hurricane IkeResponse

• A total of 109 specially trained volunteers from
  18 partners around the country donated 8,380
  hours of service to support the Houston SPCA.
  Some of the shelter partners that sent staff and
  volunteers were
• Denver Dumb Friends League
• Los Angeles SPCA
• Humane Society of Missouri
• Michigan Humane Society
• SPCA of Texas
• Code 3 Associates

15
Galveston Island Rescues

• Houston SPCA and teams began searches based on
  requests from police or reports to the disaster
  hotline for animals left behind.
• They also responded to 763 rescues calls.

16
Hurricane Ike Response

• Over 1,800 animal storm victims were rescued,
  saved and sheltered.
• 484 domestic animals and 400 farm animals were
  fed/sheltered in place.
• 424 animals were placed into temporary foster
  care through Operation Save a Life.
• Supported Galveston Island Humane Society with
  staff until December 2008.