Fire, Flood, Hurricane, Earthquake: People and Pets in

Disasters

Diàn Fowles Flinders University

Some basic stats

Australia UK US NZ

Households with dogs 36% 25% 40% 29%

“ cats 23% 20% 33% 28%

In Numbers: dogs 3.41 million 8.5 million 69.93 million 700K

cats 2.35 million 8.5 million 74 million 1.4 million

Total H/holds with pets [all

kinds]

68% 45% 62% 68%

Australian Companion Animal Council [ACAC] 2010, RSPCA 2013, AVMA 2012, PFMA 2013, NZCAC 2011

Disaster Types

• Fire

• Flooding

• Hurricane

• Earthquake

Each fall into category of rapid/sudden on-set disaster event type

Queensland Floods 2011

Source: wiki commons - "Trapped woman on a car roof during flash flooding in Toowoomba 2" by

Kingbob86 (Timothy) - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kingbob86/5341730273/. Licensed under

Creative Commons

- ¾ of the council areas in the state were declared a disaster zone

- Over 200 000 people affected- 15 000 properties flooded- 3 600 homes evacuated resulting in almost 12 000

people accommodated in evacuation shelters- 19 000km roads and 28% of rail network damaged- 24 deaths [23 in the Lockyer Valley]

Voices From a Disaster:

“…our house … dragged off the concrete supports … we were moved almost a mile … water clocked at 83kms an hour! Our dog …on our floating dining table … my husband and I… in the water… also hanging on to it.” [Fowles, unpub]

Queensland Floods cont.

Source: "Long and Mackenzie Streets in Toowoomba flooded" by Timothy - Flickr: Lake Annand 2. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - ; "Flooding in the Ipswich suburb of Gailes" by Martin Howard - Flickr: Brisbane Floods - Gailes Queensland. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons -

• Thousands of stock animals impacted• Unknown numbers of wildlife• Unknown numbers of ‘pest’ species, including foxes, rabbits…• Marine flora and fauna impacted by run-off waters loaded with silt, chemicals etc. • Many companion animals left behind in evacuations

Victorian Bushfires 2009

• Around 450 000 hectares

• Over 2 000 homes burned

• More than 7.5k people displaced

• 3.5k agricultural properties

• 70 national parks and reserves

• 173 people died in around 78 communities [120 in Kinglake]

Sources: private; Wiki Commons: "2009 Victorian bushfires smoke plume over NZ" by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC

Victorian Bushfires 2009 cont.

Sources: candobetter.net – ‘Victorian Bushfires’, Tigerquoll 26/6/09; SMH Free Environment Photos

• As for floods, thousands of stock affected• An estimated 1 million wildlife • Unknown numbers of ‘pest’ species• Many of those animals not actually burned in

the fires still died from breathing in the intensely hot air

• Fire experts estimate temperature of fires peaked at 1470°Kelvin [1197°C]

• Two fires alone, the Kilmore East fire and the Murrindindi fire, are estimated to have released the equivalent energy of 1500 Hiroshima bombs

• Led to the creation of the ‘catastrophic’ classification level

Voices From a Disaster:“…in the midst of all that terror… as the fire was coming… and we were obviously terrified… our oldest dog… I can remember him vomiting… I don't remember how many times… but it was significant… he was obviously terrified” [Fowles, unpub]

Christchurch, NZ – EQ, 2011

Source: Wiki Commons: "80 Bealey Avenue" by Schwede66

• Sept 2010, major EQ [7]• Feb 2011 another major EQ

[6.3] • 185 people died, 164 seriously

injured• Properties ‘stickered’ in zones

of damage:• - 5 000 in red zone• - 10 000 in orange zone• - 100 000 in green zone• - white zone – still being

mapped at June, 2014

Christchurch, NZ – EQ, 2011

• Over 3 000 animals perish

• Many pet and dairy animals lost, injured or distressed

Voices From a Disaster:

“…there was a woman with a hearing dog… I had to fight to get the staff to let them in… then the other staff kept trying to remove her… they had never heard of a hearing dog… woman spent

hours in tears” [Glassey & Wilson, 2011]

Voices From a Disaster:

Relinquished - “…we had a last… sandwich together… me, George and Mildred… last meal… together… I gave them their bowls and leads… just said goodbye… really hurt… didn’t look when they were driven away… I just went in the house” [Evans, 2011]

Source: Wiki Commons; "Christchurch - 2011 earthquake damage 001" by New Zealand Defence Force - CHCH City - Streets1Uploaded by Mattinbgn.

Hurricane Katrina, US - 2005

Wiki Commons: "Hurricane Katrina LA landfall radar" by Radar data from NWS New Orleans and processed by the National Climatic Data Center.

• 2005 saw three of the six most intense hurricanes recorded in US history [Wilma, Rita & Katrina]

• Human deaths 1 833 [FEMA]

• Non-human deaths not officially recorded but estimated to be in the thousands

• Estimated over 400 000 people displaced

• Estimates of 200 000 – 250 000 companion animals displaced

Hurricane Katrina cont.

Wiki Commons: "KatrinaNewOrleansFlooded edit2" by AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Kyle Niemi

• Animal welfare orgs tended some 10 000 companion animals

• Less than 5% reunited with their owners• Extensive media coverage, particularly of

dead, suffering and abandoned animals• Resulted in public outcry [esp. on social

media] and political reaction• Leading to the introduction of the PETS Act

2006

Voices From a Disaster:

“... weary refugees… hopped on buses [leaving the ‘horrendous conditions of the Superdome’]… pets not allowed on the bus…… at the back of the line… a police officer confiscated a little boy’s dog… the child cried until he vomited… ‘Snowball, Snowball’, he cried” [Foster, 2005, AP]

Some Common Issues

• The growing recognition of the strength and value of the human/animal bond and its importance to disaster resilience for individuals and communities

• Trauma and grief reactions to breaks in the bond

• Refusals to evacuate without animals or returning before it has been officially sanctioned

• Increasing expectations of animal owners that their animals receive reasonable standards of care, goods and services and inclusion in disaster planning

• Fear aggression behaviour hampering animal rescues

• Lack of identification hampering animal rescues and making reuniting animals with owners a much lengthier, or even impossible, process

• False claims on rescued animals

Voices From a Disaster

“…we went to a friend’s… got two horses out… three of them were on a levee… her two and a friend’s… only two had survived… one had washed away” [Fowles, unpub]

“…water… up to my waist… I carried my dog over my head… to the end of the street… People gathered around… with their phones taking video… not offering to help” [Fowles, unpub]

Voices from a Disaster

“…the dogs…well, they’re our little boys… they were a priority… as much as our daughters were on that day…

…at the time… driving away… from the horses… that was the hardest… I’m not God… I shouldn’t be given the decision… who is given the right to continue to live or not” [Fowles, unpub]