Hurricane Dorian reaches category 4, continues to strengthen
Meteorologist Adam Klotz takes a look at Hurricane Dorian's projected path.
It won't rain for 40 days and 40 nights after Hurricane Dorian hits Florida, but for employees of a zoo along the state's Atlantic coast, it may sometimes feel like it.
As Floridians prepare for Dorian to make landfall this weekend, the team will be helping Brevard Zoo’s nearly 950 animals do the same, zookeepers told reporters Friday.
"We have a plan in place and lots of practice,” Megan Stankiewicz, an animal welfare specialist at the zoo in Melbourne, southeast of Orlando, told Florida Today.
Hurricane Dorian strengthened to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 Friday with winds nearing 140 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm was expected to reach Florida later in the holiday weekend.
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When the storm hits, Rafiki, a 21-year-old giraffe, will weather it out with the other giraffes in a cement-block holding pen with a large metal roof structure. The other large animals will be kept in similar structures.
"They're all trained to go in, they get a treat, and they'll get a real big treat for riding out the storm," Stankiewicz told Florida Today.
Birds and other small animals will spend the storm inside kennels in the zoo’s hurricane-proof animal care building, where 10 zoo workers will watch over them.
Zookeepers monitor the larger animals through closed-circuit cameras and will check on them in person once it’s safe to go back outside.
Animal curator Lauren Hinson told reporters she’s not too worried about the animals.
"They're used to thunder and lightning almost every day," she reminded.
Past hurricanes have caused limited damage at the zoo and they’re usually up and running again after a 24-hour cleanup, Stankiewicz said.
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She added that in case of major storm damage, zoos across Florida are ready to assist each other.
The zoo is open through Sunday before the hurricane is expected to make landfall, Florida Today reported.