Evacuation orders do not solve every practical problem. You may not have a car, somewhere to stay, or a place that will accept your pets. We help work through those details.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Our hotline is a non-emergency service.
Pets welcome
Emergency lodging
We help families find safe lodging ahead of landfall, including options that accept pets. Before Milton, we secured discounted Hilton rooms in Orlando with breakfast and parking included and helped place more than 20 people.
Pets are part of the plan whenever possible.
Including if you have no car
Evacuation & transportation
If you have nowhere to go or no way to get there, we may be able to help coordinate transportation. In 2024, one request involved getting two adults, two children, two cats, and a dog more than 100 miles inland before Milton.
Non-emergency
Storm support hotline
We help with questions about forecasts, evacuation zones, shelter information, pets, windows, medical equipment, and other practical concerns during a storm.
Free
Staying connected
During Milton, we provided free one-month talk-and-text plans for eSIM-compatible phones so people who lost service could stay in touch.
Forecasting
What we’re watching
Maximum wind gust swath, four days out from Milton (NOAA GFS model, public domain). We use information like this to help explain what a storm may mean locally.
The hotline
The questions we actually get
These are the kinds of questions that came into the hotline during the 2024 storms. They often require more context than a general forecast or evacuation map can provide.
Can I still leave if I’m in Zone B?
My window is cracked. What do I do?
My daughter’s on a ventilator, and I’m staying. How can I keep the power on?
Satellite connectivity used while operating on the road.
One caller was directed to a public shelter about 30 miles away but had no transportation. The official answer was technically available; the practical problem was getting there. That is the kind of gap we try to help solve.
Who we helped
Peter’s story
Peter
Hurricane Milton · emergency lodging
Forced to leave their dorm ahead of Milton, Peter had no family nearby to call. The shelters they found would not take their cat, and Peter told us they were considering riding out the storm in their car.
We helped arrange a hotel room for Peter and their cat that same day.
“Wonderful, wonderful people. My cat and I have only been able to safely make it through Hurricane Milton because of the help given to us by this organization. I cannot convey enough how above and beyond they’ve gone in ensuring our safety.”