Ducks and hurricanes

[TLWR]

Isaac is heading this way still and now they are mentioning Cat3 - which means the dogs and I will likely be bailing. Plan was to evac with ducks in the back fo the truck in the kennel when we had 2. Now we have 5.
What have others done with their ducks when facing a hurricane. Would like to have my plans set by tomorrow night to know what to do about the ducks.

Cat 1 plan was to lock them into their house and just strap that sucker down.
DH has to stay behind, but won't be here at the house, but setting up camp in Mobile.

So looking for suggestions please

 

[PAchickenlover]

Do you have a basement that doesn't get filled up with water? If you do and you have a cage I would put them in there.. Not sure what else to tell you. Unless you have a sturdy garage you could put them in.. Just some of my thoughts...

 

[ChickPrincess]

I would take them all and just make the best of it. Can you get a hold of an extra kennel? Double the space?

 

[crissycriss]

Do you have family or friends that live futher away that you can board them at.Maybe take them with you and find a vet clinic to board them.Maybe you could find someone here on BYC close to where you are evacuating to that can board them for you.Good luck!Praying it doesnt get bad.

 

[jdywntr]

I don't have much advice for you. When I lived in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, I didn't have birds when we had hurricaines and we weren't in an evacuation zone. The closest was a tornado that came about 1 mile from our house and I locked everyone up. Luckily we only had part of a tree come down and it didn't land on anything.

If you are evacuating or are in an evacuation/flood zone then I would say take them with you if you can. Even if they are cramped and in less than ideal conditions for a bit thats better than the alternative. Frankly, I don't know what the best thing would be if you can't take them. For me, I would worry about leaving them confined if you were hit. I know some animals (horses etc) do better if loose but I don't think ducks would.

Maybe post in the Alabama thread in the Where am I where are you forum. Or check out some of the Florida forums there. I am sure that people are talking about it.
I'm in north Alabama so don't think we'll have much to deal with. Good luck, wishing you the best.

 

[TLWR]

Making plans to drive 8hrs to my MIL's and put the 5 ducks in the dane's kennel in the back of the truck with a tarp over and put them on her screened in porch (and bring some hardware cloth to wrap around the kennel at night). She's on the gulf coast of FL, west of Tampa, but shouldn't get much of this and what she does get will be done by the time it heads my direction.
Or that's one option for a plan, working on figuring out others that will let me bring the ducks and not have to keep them in a kennel in the back of the truck the entire time.

 

[jdywntr]

5 in a dane size kennel will be fine for quite some time, not ideal but this isn't long term. If possible keep some extra bedding material handy or locate a feed store near where you are going so you can stock up. I'd make sure to bring feed over bedding if space is limited. You don't want the stress of changing feed along with all of the other things.

If you go to FL just be careful as you will be driving into areas that will just have gotten something from this storm. I'm glad that you are able to take everyone with you. Good thoughts going your way.

 

[Amiga]

I would make a plywood shell to go over the kennel in the truck bed, to cut down the wind battering the ducks. And I agree a bag of feed and some vitamins would be good to carry.

Prayers for you all.

 

[TLWR]

Further west now - This morning it was hitting Mobile Bay, but now it is estimated at Gulfport, MS. So we may be staying. Most of our windows are boarded up and we are finishing the rest in a few minutes.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Since I live in SE Louisiana (not on the coast, but not too far from it) I have been watching this one closely. We didn't have any waterfowl when our last hurricane of note passed: Gustav in 2008. We are installing hurricane strapping on all the coop roof framing this afternoon...just in case. I plan on letting the ducks out even if the hurricane is headed for us as long as the winds are under 75 mph. From what I have observed of them in severe weather, they are smart enough to go into their shelter when they need to do so. I also have several natural windbreaks they tend to take advantage of during high winds.

As to the storm:
I think the National Hurricane Center is doing a very good job with a very complex set up for this storm. It has been somewhat anomalous for a while and very interesting to watch. It had a very easy passage over Hispanola and Cuba and remained much more intact than most storms that cross those land masses.

Their is considerable divergence in the more reliable dynamic hurricane models right now (the 12Z runs from this morning). The UKMET and I think ECMWF are still showing a FL panhandle/Alabama landfall. The other 3 models, including the GFS ensemble, which is considered to be the most reliable, are showing what looks to be Houma, Louisiana, which would put NOLA in the dirty side of the storm (NE quadrant). Right now they still have a moderately low confidence in the track of the storm, which is causing a lot of folks to get impatient on some of the weather forums.

The hurricane hunter aircraft are in the storm right now, and the National Weather Service have many buoys and balloons deployed as well. All that information will be input into the next set of model runs.

The bigger question will be intensity. This is taking a Katrina or possibly Rita like track (strangely would make landfall on Katrina track on the 7 year anniversary of that storm) at the moment. The potential heat content of the water in the Gulf is not nearly as high as it was in 2005, which should restrict rapid intensification (their are fewer eddies in the loop current this year as well). However, the more westerly the track, the warmer the deep water the storm will pass over. Either way, most reliable sources are saying no more than a Cat. 3 prior to landfall and more likely a Cat. 2. Usually, as they approach land, the shallow water cools the core of the storm and it draws in drier continental air and they tend to lose a bit of intensity before landfall.

The size of the storm is of concern though: The wind field extends over 205 miles from the center, which is only slightly smaller than Katrina was. This means that if it can get its act together with a closed eye wall and spin up as soon as today, it will be pushing a large amount of water ahead of it. Storms like this traditionally produce significantly higher surge than smaller storms, as was the case with both Katrina and Ike. The amount of kinetic energy produced by these sprawling storms is incredible.

Anyway, sorry for meteorology 101: I like to be prepared and read a lot. Good luck to anyone within the National Hurricane Center's Cone of Uncertainty for this storm. Keep on your toes and stay safe.