Across Southwest Florida, county employees and animal rescuers have been working to empty the county animal shelters before Hurricane Milton slams into Florida — and at least one of those shelters is in a mandatory evacuation zone.
Dozens of Lee County cats and dogs were sent home with fosters Monday and Tuesday, to let them weather the storm in calmer surroundings, safe from storm surge and floodwaters.
Lee issued evacuation orders Monday for zones A and B, which are areas that are more prone to flooding and storm surge. And the Lee County Animal Shelter , at 5600 Banner Dr. in Fort Myers, sat smack-dab in the middle of Zone B.
In response, the shelter posted a plea on its website for locals to come in and foster its cats and dogs through the storm.
“Will you foster me?” The Facebook post read.
It was urgent: While the shelter fared well during Ian, seeing only a few downed tree branches in its vicinity, with the building inside a mandatory evacuation zone, it was impossible to say for certain how Milton would impact the staff and animals inside.