If you missed part one of this story you can see it here.
I didn’t want to leave the house we rented as a shelter. It was too much stress to pack up the cats again and I thought we would be fine where we were but Rose felt the storm’s path made it unsafe and I wanted her to feel comfortable about where we were, so we quickly got our stuff together and put the cats in the carriers. This time we put Chris in the small carrier and somehow managed to get three cats in the big carrier. It wasn’t the most comfortable for the boys but they were okay.
My electric car did not have enough charge to get there so I had to stop at a charging station on the way. Fortunately, that was easier than finding gas.
When we got to Felice and Jeff’s house they had a bedroom set up for us with two litter boxes. We put the cats inside and that is where they stayed. Everbody hid under the bed at first, even Chris, who was way more stressed than I expected him to be.
I’m sure the room was full of smells from the resident cats and that was probably why Frankie spent the first two hours hissing and whacking everyone, even Rose and me. The cats that gave up their room were not happy either.
Surprisingly, it was little, shy Floki that come out from under the bed first.
Eventually, Chris and Frankie came out too.
Watching the weather became old very quick but we would turn it on periodically to see if anything new developed. I tried to hang out with the cats occasionally to help keep them calm but I also didn’t want to be rude and ignore the people in the house.
I got to see Puck use the litter box for the second time in as many days and thought that there was a silver lining in all this.
At one point we heard the storm made landfall at Marco Island, near Naples. That was much farther south than expected and good news for us because a hurricane that moves over land loses its energy. Of course, it was not good for the people in the Naples area.
The worst of the storm was supposed to occur between midnight and 4:00 a.m. Since all the windows were covered there seemed no point to stay up to watch it so we went to bed a little after 10:00. By that time we never saw anything worse than some rain and a heavy breeze.
I guess Rose and I were pretty tired because we slept through the worst of it and woke up around 5:00. We didn’t want to wake anybody so it was more than an hour before I could look outside. When I did I saw little evidence that a hurricane passed us by. Jeff had an app on his phone that said wind speeds reached 105 miles per hour where we were at around midnight. I was amazed it didn’t wake us up. I was also amazed that we never lost power.
The county that we live in, Pinellas, closed its borders. They would not let anyone in until they declared the roads safe to drive on. That meant we had to stay a while before we could leave for home. I spent the time watching the weather and taking pictures of the resident cats. The picture below is the grown-up kitten we wanted to adopt before Floki but Felice and Jeff claimed him first (see here). The cat outside is one of three strays that took shelter in the garage.
At 10:00 a.m I heard the roads were open so we packed our stuff up and put the cats their carriers. This time Felice gave us a carrier so they were all able to ride home in relative comfort.
A tree had fallen over the road out so I had to turn around and go around the block. The damage to buildings in the area seemed minimal, except for an unlucky few. There were a fair number of trees down and lots of branches on the roads but overall it was much better than expected. Almost half the traffic lights were out and everyone here thinks they need to treat them as a two-way stop. I think the most surprising thing I saw was a billboard that looked like Godzilla attacked it.
Forgive the quality, this is a partial frame from a dash cam video.
I went straight home with the cats and Rose went to check on her mother’s house. Her home survived but she had no power. When I entered our neighborhood, I saw two homes at the end of our street with part of their roofs ripped off. There was also a palm tree lying half way across the street. That worried me a little but the only damage I saw to our house was that three large planters blew over and two of them cracked, one of which was already cracked. We even had power and our alarm clock wasn’t blinking so we never lost power.
I brought the cats inside and they were so happy to be back. None of them lingered in the carrier for even a second. It wasn’t long before they were all on the bed ready for a nap. It was like we had never left.
Bad Cat Chris 
So glad that’s past us…it was one of the most stressful times I have even gone through.
I think we won’t have to do that again anytime soon.
SO happy everything worked out…..I know it had to be just awful leaving your house in the first place but storms are so unpredictable, it was best to be somewhere you really did feel more safe. I know you’re just glad it’s over – let’s pray you never have to go through all of that again!
Pam and Teddy too
Thank you Pam and Teddy. It turns out we could have stayed home but that would have been foolish at the time with so much unpredictability.
You can’t trust a storm….but you can follow your instincts and it was the RIGHT thing to do for safety’s sake!
We’re so glad to see you had minimal damage…and except for all the stress…you all came through this fine.
Thanks. Just glad it is over.
Glad you all made it through safely!
Purrs,
Gus, Pearl, and Jaq
Thank you.
I’m glad it worked out so well for you. Better safe than sorry.
So true. Thank you.
What a stressful time for all of you – but you came back to a home that was intact with only a few cracked pots. That is amazing.
It was amazing. When we left, we thought there was a good chance we would have no home to return to.
Glad you got home safely, and that you had a home to return to. I cannot imagine what it’s like to live with the threat of hurricanes. Nature can be scary.
Thank you, Carole. The hurricane threat here is usually pretty low but there are always exceptions.
We’re so glad you went through all this safely ! Purrs
Thank you. We are happy it is over.
Chuck you and your wife are just pawesome! I am so sorry you had to go through all of this, but am thrilled that ALL of you are ok, and that your home is fine! Thank goodness! The kitties probably thought it was one heck of an adventure! Thank you for sharing this with us!
You are pawesome for saying that. 😀 The kitties probably wondered why we put them through all that.
We’re so glad your home and safe. Hope it stays that way. Go in the litter box Puck, go!
Thank you. We were hoping Puck would remember the litter box when he got home but… Not so much.
Darn. . .
Hi I think you did the right thing ! I’m glad you were all safe and minimal stress ! Some areas did get whacked badly with heavy damage! Sounds like your cats did fairly well with 2 places to adjust to! I did it once with a dozen cats!!
That is amazing that you didn’t even lose power. I am glad your home wasn’t damaged either.
Thank you. I am still amazed at how lucky we were. My chiropractor told me yesterday she still has no power, which is very difficult in this heat and humidity.
at last… home sweet home..
You said it. 😸
An happy end in this wild story. I was wondering Puck is in a litter box, so is the problem in the litters boxes in the house, or what is disturbing him.
When we got home Puck pooped and peed on the floor. I don’t know what his problem is. 😣
Did you change the floor material at the time Puck started to pee on the floor.
No, he had a bladder infection, which is better now. The pooping started two years ago when we added a sofa to the cats’ room.
Impossible to solve the problem, only thing left is that sofa.
Sometimes he poops on it. Although, sometimes he lies on it and looks out the window.