Longmont Humane Society: Disaster Response and Recovery Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
In September 2013, Northern Colorado experienced extreme flooding placing an even greater demand on our programs and services. Days of heavy rains resulted in failing dams and raging rivers which created life threatening flood conditions that remained active for five days. Thousands of families, including their pets, were forced from their homes by rising waters. Major flooding effectively cut the City of Longmont in half. LHS, although located in a mandatory evacuation area, remained open and sheltered any and all animals that could be safely transported to our facility. In all, LHS sheltered a total of 238 evacuated animals. According to estimates released by the Colorado Office of Emergency Management, some 1,800 homes were destroyed and approximately 16,000 were damaged during the flooding.rnrnFunds from the Pedigree Foundation helped LHS cover the unexpected and significant increase in operational expenses associated with caring for these displaced animals.
Without question, the flooding that occurred in our area in September stands out as the most significant and memorable event of 2013. LHS functioned far above our capacity for many weeks while members of our community dealt with being displaced from their homes and were left without resources for their beloved pets. In addition to expanding our sheltering services and capabilities, LHS also served as a supply drop off center for evacuated animals who were either being sheltered in our facility or who are being cared for elsewhere. An impressive amount of donations from the community came in to the shelter including food, paper and cleaning products, towels and blankets and animal crates. The supplies were organized and used to care for the animals we sheltered at our facility, distributed to city and county Animal Control departments, as well as provided to evacuation shelters and community members who were in need of support. rnrnThankfully, most evacuated animals were able to go home within the first few weeks after the flooding. LHS was grateful to be able to provide this much needed life saving resource to our neighbors in their time of need. Our longest term evacuee, J.J. the cat, stayed with us for ten weeks. His long awaited return home marked the successful end to a trying but gratifying undertaking on behalf of our community members and the animals in their lives.rn
How many pets did this grant help?
238
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
A powerful story about one family’s experience during and after September’s flood. Scooter the cat lived at LHS for a period of weeks after the floods and was adored for his gentle and loving manner. LHS is very grateful to have been in the position to help Scooter and his family during this incredibly difficult time. http://www.dailycamera.com/news/colorado-flood/ci_24889144/family-still-adjusting-life-after-flood-loss-gerry
