The dust has cleared a bit from the tornado that hit our area this week, but we’re still working in the community to help people and animals who were affected by the disaster. I found out yesterday that my colleague Cindy Clark, who works in the PETA Foundation’s Development Department, was one of those people—her home was right in the path of the storm. Her story, in addition to being pretty exciting, is also a great reminder about how to keep your head in a disaster like this and do everything you can to ensure that your animals, who rely on you completely, don’t become victims. Here’s how it all went down, according to Cindy:

We evacuated on Monday afternoon when the tornado came to town. I live in a mobile home in Driver. My trailer is fine, thankfully. We were able to return Monday evening, but had to get the heck out of Dodge on Monday afternoon.

It's odd, but many people have asked me through the years what I would do with my dogs if I ever had to evacuate. Of course, I would never go anywhere in that situation without my dogs.

We were in downtown Suffolk at the school admin building when the storms hit. When we heard the emergency alarm on the radio is basically came down to - you are 20 mins away from your mobile home where your dogs are in the direct path of a tornado. You have 10 mins. GO!

We got to my house, snatched the dogs out, and tried to get away from the storm but only made it about 2 miles from my house. Tornado was straight ahead of us on the right about 1/4 mi, elementary school about 200 yards on the left. SCHOOL!

We vacated the Suburban we were in the fire lane at the school and proceeded to the gym. We were there for about two hours. My dogs calmed the kids that were scared and crying. They were a nice distraction for the kids and my dogs enjoyed tummy rubs, 10 hands at the time.

I like the happy ending. Big thanks are due to the folks at Nansemond Parkway Elementary School and the shelter at Kings Fork High School for being awesome throughout. There’s more info on what you can do to make sure your animals are safe in the event of an emergency here.

As you’ll be well aware if you live anywhere near here, our area got hit by a tornado yesterday. 200 people were injured, a lot of people had to leave their homes in a hurry, and …here we go again…animals were left behind, plus authorities have refused to let people who tried to go home after work return to their homes. We’ve been rushing around today trying to help those animals out. There’s plenty more info below about what you can do if you live in the area.

PETA, the Virginia Beach SPCA, and Suffolk Animal Control have joined forces to help local tornado victims. Because the storm hit suddenly, many people fled their homes leaving dogs, cats birds and other animals behind.

The Virginia Beach SPCA has set up an emergency response center at the Suffolk Animal Control Bureau, located at 124 Glen Forest Drive in Suffolk. The shelter will be staffed 24/7 to receive animals as long as there is a need.

If you know of an animal in need, whether lost or left behind, please call 757-409-7729, or email info@VBSPCA.com. PETA’s Community Animal Project is available to assist in rescuing animals who are trapped in or under homes and assist in capturing frightened animals running at large.

At least 100 birds have already been displaced by the storm and taken for emergency care. For information on how to help stranded wildlife, please visit VBSPCAWildlife.com.