Hurricane Milton is barreling towards Florida’s Gulf coast in the Tampa area, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene tore through the region. Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center said Milton has the “potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record” for Florida.
Florida is filled with New Jersey natives, some full time, some part time. The Sunshine State always ranks as one of the top states New Jerseyans move to, and of the out-of-state relocations to Florida in 2022, over 6% came from the Garden State, according to Census Bureau data.
Evacuations are mandatory in the following counties in Florida: Citrus, Charlotte, Collier, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Volusia. Tampa Bay has not endured a direct hit from a hurricane in more than a century.
Connecting lost pets and their families
As people evacuate or make storm preparations, the national nonprofit Petco Love is offering a free photo-matching database for pet owners. Powered by artificial intelligence, the Love Lost national database searches for your pet using just one photo.
Every year, millions of pets are displaced due to hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and other emergencies. The ASPCA has estimated that about half of residents forced to evacuate during a natural disaster like a hurricane, end up leaving at least one pet behind.
Pet parents can register their safe-at-home pets in the database here. Love Lost can help people in almost any language and provides privacy for those who use it. The database has reunited nearly 60,000 pet parents across the U.S. with their best friends.
Hurricane Helene
When natural disasters strike, the bond between pets and their families can be shattered in an instant. National nonprofit Petco Love urges people looking for missing pets during and after Hurricane Helene or Milton to use its free Love Lost national database. This extensive national database can help locate displaced pets who may unintentionally end up in different counties or states.
Neighbors can directly help each other in disaster areas, which is especially crucial when overwhelmed animal shelters and rescues in the path of the devastation are likely going to be stretched to capacity with rescue and care efforts.
Love Lost aims to bridge the gap between lost pets and their worried families by providing a comprehensive, user-friendly online resource for reporting and searching for lost pets.
The Love Lost database includes:
- Free and simple search: Pet parents and finders of lost pets can quickly search for lost/found pets with just one photo.
- Robust Alerts: Love Lost will search its database for you and send alerts of possible matches via SMS or email.
- Community Collaboration: Local shelters and rescue organizations (3,000 to date), and community platforms like Nextdoor and Neighbors integrate with Love Lost, creating a collaborative environment for reuniting families.
“Every pet is a beloved member of the family, and during a disaster, the uncertainty can be overwhelming,” said Susanne Kogut, president of Petco Love. “Love Lost is designed to give families hope and the tools they need to find their pets. Love Lost leverages technology and community support to ensure that pets and their families can be reunited quickly.”
She added that Petco Love is also committing up to $1 million in funding to its animal welfare partners impacted by the deadly storms in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
The U.S. Hurricane Season
Milton will be the fifth hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. in 2024, and just like Helene, the Gulf of Mexico’s abnormally high temperatures are thought as being the catalyst to the rapid fluctuations in strength. Hurricane Helene killed at least 130 people and closed two major Air Force bases.
Hurricane Milton went from a Category 1 storm at midnight on Monday (Oct. 7) to a Category 5 hurricane by noon. Wind speeds hit 180 m.p.h. by 8 p.m., which puts Milton among the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever.
Hurricane Hunters
The Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters flew nine weather reconnaissance missions into Hurricane Helene Sept. 23-26 in order to gather data for National Hurricane Center forecasts.
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, assigned to the 403rd Wing, Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, first investigated the storm on Sept. 23. Over the course of the week, the storm intensified from Category 1 to Category 4 before making landfall on Florida’s Big Bend Sept. 26.
The hurricane season in the U.S. officially ends Nov. 30. The year with the most storms on record in the U.S. is 2020, with seven.
Additional Partners
Petco Love is also coordinating its response with other national organizations that are part of NARSC (National Animal Rescue & Sheltering Coalition). Animal welfare organizations impacted by disasters may seek support from Petco Love using the “Apply Now” link on this page.
About Petco Love
Petco Love is a life-changing nonprofit organization that makes communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since its founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, it has invested nearly $400 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts found homes for more than 6.9 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide.
Our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us. Is love calling you? Join us. Visit Petco Love or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we lead every day.
53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Hurricane Hunters
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, a component of the 403rd Wing located at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., is a one-of-a-kind organization. It is the only operational unit in the world flying weather reconnaissance on a routine basis.
The mission of the Hurricane Hunters is to recruit, organize and train assigned personnel to perform aerial weather reconnaissance. They provide surveillance of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the central Pacific Ocean for the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The unit also flies winter storm missions off both coasts of the United States.