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Emergencies & Disasters
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Animal death toll unknown after Moore twister
5/21/2013
At least four veterinary clinics still operating in devastated area
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Tornado missed veterinary hospital by 70 yards
2/11/2013
Doctor and staff huddled with surgery patient
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Free pet food offer brings deluge of requests
12/26/2012
All 10,000 pounds now spoken for
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Free pet food available by the ton
12/21/2012
Surplus from Hurricane Sandy relief sits in warehouse
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Storm recovery focus of NYC symposium
11/15/2012
Veterinarians, physicians, dentists invited to free event
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Battered, not beaten: Veterinarians brace for new storm in Sandy’s wake
11/7/2012
Ravaged areas of East Coast evacuated ahead of nor'easter
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Veterinarians, clinic staff recount effects of Sandy
10/30/2012
ACVS cancels annual symposium
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Veterinarians recount Pentagon 9/11 search and rescue
9/11/2012
Effort less publicized than Ground Zero’s but equally intense
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Louisiana authorities checking Isaac's effect on livestock
8/29/2012
Mississippi shelter transfers pets to New York
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Colorado wildfire livestock refugees treated for free
6/25/2012
Tales from fire include donkey heroics
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Duluth veterinarian corrals zoo animals during flood
6/22/2012
Polar bear breaks out, seals swim in street
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Ohio Veterinary Medical Association building burns
6/1/2012
Flames destroy more than half of structure
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Company asks veterinarians to stop using its hyperbaric oxygen chambers
2/14/2012
Fatal explosion a 'wakeup call' for safety, training
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Veterinary practice digs out from Alabama twister
1/24/2012
Animals unharmed; massive cleanup ensues
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Veterinary 9/11 first-responders were local
12/1/2011
Shared experience forged lifelong ties
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Preparedness urged for Australian bushfire, cyclone season
10/6/2011
Experts advise reviewing insurance coverage, readying for evacuation
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9/11 brings first responder to ‘emotional brink’
9/9/2011
Memories from Ground Zero haunt veterinarian
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Veterinarians encounter Irene
8/29/2011
Accounts mixed on storm's impact
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North Carolina veterinarians brace for Hurricane Irene
8/26/2011
NCVMA collects names of volunteers
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Colorado State to examine rubble in fire's wake
8/2/2011
Source of blaze that destroyed Equine Reproduction Laboratory unknown
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Zoo stranded by titanic flood
8/2/2011
Displaced animals won't return for a year or two
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Joplin marches forward
7/12/2011
Adopt-a-thon finds homes for 745 displaced pets in two days
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Wildfires: Veterinary volunteers urgently sought in Arizona
6/21/2011
Pharmaceuticals, supplies needed
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Veterinarian tells story of chaos, relief in tornado's aftermath
6/1/2011
Dr. Ben Leavens sets up makeshift ER while family is missing
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Tornadoes strike again; veterinarians shaken
5/25/2011
Oklahoma veterinarian escapes twister by jumping into kennel
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Veterinary relief under way in deadly tornado’s wake
5/23/2011
At least one Joplin, Mo., veterinary practice destroyed
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Recovery continues for wildlife affected by Gulf oil spill
4/22/2011
Rescuers able to release most animals back to sea
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Fearing overseas radiation, Americans seek potassium iodide for pets
3/18/2011
Veterinary experts say medication isn’t warranted
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Normalcy returns to Queensland veterinary school after epic flooding
2/17/2011
Most pets reclaimed by families
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Pet rescues undertaken in flooded Queensland
1/17/2011
Veterinary school becomes ad hoc shelter
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AU veterinary student missing in Thailand
7/30/2009
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Australian vets treat victims of deadly Victorian bushfires
2/18/2009
At least one veterinary clinic reportedly succumbed to blaze
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Colleagues Beset by Disaster Set Bitterness Aside
One forgives employee who set clinic on fire
10/31/2008
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Ike promises depressed economy for Texas region
9/24/2008
17 veterinarians practice in Galveston, TVMA reports
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Ike's aftermath
9/17/2008
Veterinarians endure post storm
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Generators wanted, Texas veterinary officials say
9/17/2008
More than 1,000 DVMs in devastated counties, TVMA reports
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Texas gears up for countdown to Ike
9/10/2008
Animal care agencies prepare for storm's strike
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LSART to assess damages before taking on new volunteers
9/2/2008
Aide workers should wait, officials say; supply donations not needed at press time
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Tornadoes strike again; veterinarians shaken
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May 25, 2011
By: Jennifer Fiala
For The VIN News Service
 Crosstown Veterinary Services was destroyed on Tuesday when a tornado blew through Guthrie, Okla. Dr. Cory Bertrand rode out the storm inside his practice. Photo courtesy of Tasie Bertrand.
Tornadoes continued to wreak havoc today, touching down in the Kansas City, Mo., area and Sedalia, Mo., this afternoon. Warnings have been issued for St. Louis, where funnel clouds have been spotted.
News of Tuesday's destruction in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas comes as residents in Joplin, Mo., grapple in the wake of Sunday’s twister that killed more than 120 people and obliterated 30 percent of the city.
At least one practice — Dr. John Christman’s Parkview Animal Hospital — was destroyed in Joplin. The Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Association reports that Tuesday’s tornadoes struck a veterinary practice and a shelter in the state, though further details were not immediately available.
This morning, Dr. Cory Bertrand of Guthrie, Okla., was featured on the Today Show. According to the report, the practitioner rode out the tornado by taking shelter in a kennel. While everyone inside of the practice was unharmed, four goats were killed in the storm and a bull had to be euthanized as a result of his injuries.
Bertrand’s wife, Tasie, tells the VIN News Service that everything is gone, and she’s sifting through the rubble. “We don’t know what to do next,” she says. Much of the practice is no longer standing.
Early reports reveal that Tuesday's tornado activity occurred in mostly rural areas of Kansas and Arkansas. Veterinary medical associations in both states reported that so far, none of their members are reported to have been impacted.
In a post on the Veterinary Information Network, an online professional community, Dr. Ben Leavens gives a heart-wrenching account of what he and his family have endured and witnessed in Joplin, where he practices. Much of the area still is without electricity.
“Almost out of battery so will be brief,” Leavens writes to colleagues. “Devastation here in Joplin is beyond imagination. Two of us are out of a clinic. It will be awhile before we can repair/rebuild. We lost our residence, which was in an apartment complex behind Wal-Mart where we were staying due to extensive flood damage three weeks ago. House is now flooding again.”
Upon noting that his wife and children have relocated while he stays behind to aid relief efforts, Leavens concludes his VIN post with: “Central Joplin is an empty prairie, and for once I am not using hyperbole.”
On the Facebook page for Leavens’ practice, it was announced that Main Street Pet Care closed today. The practice had been open earlier this week following Sunday’s storm.
Dr. Donald Loden’s practice was spared by the tornadoes in Joplin, though the breadth of the destruction has reduced him to tears. In an e-mail to the VIN News Service, he writes that pictures cannot convey the magnitude of the damage:
“My language skills are too small to describe the scene. You drive down the block and everything is normal then suddenly everything is rubble as far as the eye sees. You have difficulty believing a city was ever there.”
He’s amazed that 2,000 to 3,000 aren’t dead.
“It is only by the grace of God that the death toll is so low,” Loden adds. “None of us know how this will effect us completely, yet.”
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