For the second time since September we evacuated animals from outside caging at our newest location in Itasca. This flooding isn’t nearly as bad as September in terms of depth; however, it presents some real issues in terms of reoccupancy.
September’s waters were mid-chest deep in some locations and a good 2-1/2 plus feet deep everywhere else…today’s deepest waters (thus far) are knee deep. The challenge with today’s flooding is related to the cold. With frozen grounds and temperatures plunging into the 20’s tonight, how long will it take the water to recede and will we be surrounded by a skating rink?
We’ve moved animals from outside caging to temporary caging inside the building. Accessing the building via waders with possible ice tomorrow will be interesting – to say the least.
Tomorrow some animals will be relocated to our Barrington location (critical care has already been moved to Barrington). For now, all other animal care will continue in Itasca. We’ll decide if additional animals need to be relocated from Itasca once we see what happens with the water / ice.
I’m sure we’ll incur additional structural damage over and above what we incurred in September. We will also need another lengthy clean-up and sanitation, which may not be able to occur until Spring since winter weather isn’t conducive to using power washers and hoses!
Sorry – no photos today. Perhaps we’ll take some tomorrow.
As in September, all animals are safe.
Dawn