Therapy Dogs and Hurrican Ian

The last week of September was spent in Southwest Florida getting ready for the arrival of hurricane Ian. Getting outside furniture stored away, cleaning up anything out on the lawns, and in my home - getting over 50 orchid plants brought into the house and set up for a brief stay until they could go outside again. The weather forecasters were telling us it was going to make landfall around Sarasota, about 1-1/2 hours north of us as a CAT3 hurricane. We had hunkered down through hurricane Irma, a CAT3, so we weren’t too worried as long as everything was battened down.

As Ian was getting closer, people started gathering family members together to weather the storm together. But then all of a sudden late on September 27, Ian took a turn and started following the same path hurricane Charley had taken years before. The winds started picking up first thing in the morning and Ian made landfall at about 3:00 in the afternoon, not 20 miles from my home and it took forever to pass. It was moving excruciatingly slow and we only had small peepholes to see out through the boards on our windows and doors. We had electricity so we could at least see what was going on outside on the TV. But then the newsroom got flooded with storm surge and they had to go off air. We were in the eye wall for the entire duration of the storm. The next morning we didn’t have water, cell service or electricity, but at least we had a generator. We hooked up the freezers and TV to know what was going on. With the generator, I could at least let my family know we were okay and could get on my phone to keep in contact with friends and family.

We had survived Ian, a storm that brought 150 mile-an-hour sustained winds and a 15-foot storm surge. We had substantial damage, but for us all could be repaired or replaced, others weren’t so lucky.

I was finally able to check my email and there was a request from Allstate Insurance for therapy dogs to man their

Therapy Dogs and Hurricane Ian

disaster claims centers, so Smoke and I volunteered. We met people from 3 outer islands around us that were devastated by the storm with flooding and wind damage. I was leaving the second morning and there were 3 people sitting in the car parked next to me. When they saw Smoke, they all had to get out and come see him. The driver started telling me they lived on Fort Myers Beach and all three people had to be evacuated with their golden retrievers because the water level was up to their second floor. After they got the 2 women out, the firemen set up a receiving line and passed the dogs, one at a time, down the line to

Here are people that just lost their entire house because it had washed out to sea and they were worried about my dog.

safety and the husband came out last. All they wanted to do was pet Smoke. Then they started apologizing for taking up my time, to which I replied it wasn’t a problem. They then asked if I had ice. I thought they wanted water because the temperature was close to 90 degrees but they wanted to give up the water they had for Smoke. Here are people that just lost their entire house because it had washed out to sea and they were worried about my dog. There were days I got into my truck and cried seeing people who literally only had the clothes on their backs and they were willing to give up their water.

One day we were the only team to sign up for the day. I heard Allstate management was coming to see how the center was managing but they wouldn’t be there until noon. I offered to stay for an additional shift because one person that was visiting was the person who proposed the Allstate Foundation and wanted therapy dogs as part of the program. They had a photographer there who did an impromptu photo shoot with Smoke and when the visitors got there, they all had their photos taken with him. I found out later one was the president of AllState and they are going to use the photo on their employee newsletter.

We were there for 2 weeks and saw people who lost their homes and everything in them to people who just had scratches to their cars from roof shingles flying on to them, some bringing unmannered pets with them. Smoke and all the other dogs all remained troopers throughout the experience, handling strangers and kids coming up to see them. Walking past families, living and sleeping under their debris trailers because they were looking for work and had no home to go to. This was one of the most humbling experiences. Everyone loved Smoke and even if they didn’t have Allstate Insurance, they wanted to pet Smoke and forget their problems, even if it was for just a moment.

Good boy Smoke!