AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hurricane season began on June 1 for the Atlantic Basin. While evacuations are much more likely for coastal zones, we are still susceptible to dangerous weather here in Central Texas.

Flooding rain or wildfires could prompt evacuations here in Central Texas any time of year. Meteorologist Nick Bannin spoke with animal behavioral specialist Rachel Salant about what to do with your pets in the event of dangerous weather or fire concerns.

Nick Bannin, Meteorologist: Rachel, not good news about some statistics about homeowners who have animals and are not super prepared with their pets ahead of emergencies.

Rachel Salant, Animal Behavior Specialist: Yeah, the recent survey just came back and approximately 52% of pet owners in Texas have a plan in the event of emergency and 48% do not, so split about half and half there.

Bannin: So what do you suggest people do? We do not get hurricane evacuations this far inland here in Central Texas, but we certainly deal with our share of severe weather. What [should] a pet owner do ahead of bad storms?

Salant: Yeah, absolutely. And bad weather can be anything. Bad weather can be wildfires, right, it can be just extreme heat or extreme cold. There’s a lot of examples. It’s not just hurricanes and we don’t have to make pet preparedness terribly complicated, it can be as simple as just having a plan.

I know with my pets, I like to have a “go bag.” So I have a corner of a closet that has everything I need in the event that we need to move quickly. So any crates for the appropriate sized animal that we have, I also like to keep canned food and bottled water ready. With bottled water, I like to have vessels for the animals to be able to drink out of so that could be a liquid bottle or can be an open bowl a nice small one, it doesn’t have to be a big one. And any medications that you might need in an emergency. I know a lot of pet parents are concerned about how their pets going to behave in a crate because they’re not used to it, so you could ask your vet for just one or two doses of a calming medication to have in your go bag in the event you need to move quickly. So all these things I just like to have ready and prepared in the home.

Bannin: And I imagine just like with humans having non-perishable food ready to go just in case the power’s out, the gas heating is out, I imagine you want to have that stocked up for your pets too just in case you can’t get to a pet supply store, that type of thing?

Salant: Yeah, absolutely. Inside my crates in my home I have many beds or blankets, spare blankets ready to go. We had a power failure this year. In the 20s… 20 degrees it was really cold in the house. So had spare blankets ready to go. All those sorts of things.