The Oklahoma tornado has devastated so many lives and families in Oklahoma, but the ripple effect carries across the country – to both humans and animals.
Marion County is no exception; our recently relocated wild animal sanctuary, Forest Animal Rescue, is one example.
[pullquote align=”left|center|right” textalign=”left|center|right” width=”30%”]Although we knew we could only borrow these generators until they were needed for a disaster, we had hoped to get final approval from US Forest Service to run power before something like this came up. [/pullquote]
After relocating 138 wild animals to the Ocala National Forest a few months ago, we have still been struggling to get permanent power run to the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the well for water, refrigerators and freezers for the animals are all being run on two large generators …generators borrowed from the Sumter Disaster Animal Response Team.
The Sumter Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) came to the rescue by lending the generators to Forest Animal Rescue a few months ago when the animals needed to relocate before permanent power was installed.
Once the tornadoes hit in Oklahoma, the disaster team had to reclaim the 10KW generator that we were using to power our well and we braced ourselves for the fact that the other generator may soon be reclaimed as well.
We were scrambling to find an immediate solution, but all of the generators offered to us wound up being too small to do the job or were in need of repair.
We have a 4” well, sufficient to provide water for all of the animals and to fill the pools for the tigers and bears. The produce and meat are stored in large commercial refrigerators – all of this requires a substantial amount of power.
Lucky for us, the Sumter DART team called us back and said that the authorities in Oklahoma were able to use their own resources to provide for their displaced animals, so we could once again borrow the generator that they had initially taken back. We only had to haul water in containers for two days.
Needless to say, we are scrambling to acquire either two more 8-10KW generators or, preferably, one 20KW (or more) standby unit to power everything so we will not be put back in this position again when another disaster strikes.
We are already running underground water and electrical lines in preparation for the installation of a standby generator and eventually permanent power, but we need to sort out the rest of the equipment as quickly as possible.
Permanent power is likely to be months away, so a big standby unit would be the most efficient way to go. The estimated cost of running a large standby generator is $3,000 a month, but we are already spending that to fuel multiple smaller generators.
If you would like to donate toward fuel, the electricity project or alternative energy, just specify that when you make your gift and it will be used as directed.
Can you help?
The Ocala Star Banner did a nice article on our situation as well, you can read the article here
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