FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – About a dozen dogs, 20 cats and a bunny from a South Carolina animal shelter arrived in Fort Lauderdale late Tuesday in an effort to get the animals out of harm's way ahead of Hurricane Florence.
The animals from the coastal town of Beaufort will be available for adoption at the Humane Society of Broward County on Wednesday.
"These animals were really in the path of Florence, which is turning out to be a big hurricane," Mary Steffen, of the Humane Society of Broward County, said. "They reside in a really old shelter that they say floods when they get a little bit of a rainstorm. So they were really afraid for these animals."
Earlier Tuesday, 15 animals were flown in from Puerto Rico, where Hurricane Isaac is expected to make landfall. More animals from Puerto Rico are expected Tuesday morning.
The Humane Society said their shelter on Griffin Road has plenty of space for the new arrivals.
Shelters often help other facilities during natural disasters. The Humane Society of Broward County moved many of its animals to California shelters ahead of Hurricane Irma. After Irma left Broward County relatively unscathed, the Fort Lauderdale shelter took in pets from the hard-hit Florida Keys.
When Hurricane Maria threatened Puerto Rico, the Broward County shelter took in dozens of animals from the island.