Support Nonprofit Animal Rescue From Flood Damage

Rebuilding After a Heartbreaking Flood

On August 18th, 2024, our Long Island, NY foster-based nonprofit, Hope For Cleo Animal Rescue, faced an unimaginable tragedy.

A severe storm brought catastrophic flash flooding that completely devastated our rescue home, turning the lives of our beloved pups and dedicated volunteer's upside down. In an instant, everything we had worked so tirelessly for was lost.

Our rescue, which has been a safe haven for hundreds of furbabies abandoned on the streets of Texas, is now uninhabitable. The floodwaters destroyed all of our dog food, toys, treats, computers, office equipment, 2 washers, 2 driers, tall refrigerator, tall freezer, rumba vacuum, Miele vacuum, 2 dehumidifiers, 4 air purifiers, and even the beautiful epoxy floor we had spent months fundraising for.

The damage was overwhelming, as gallons of water poured in through a shattered egress window, and the door buckled under the pressure of the flood.

The most gut-wrenching moment came when we were rescuing the last animal—a terrified mama dog, who had only recently arrived from a horrific hoarding situation in Texas. She had been so severely abused by other dogs that she cowered in fear, standing in the freezing water that was rising around her small chihuahua body. We refused to leave without her, even as the fire department urged us to evacuate before the water reached the live outlets. After hours of battling broken glass, rising water, and pure fear, we finally got her to safety.

During this chaos, one of our founding members was injured while trying to save the dog, with shards of glass from another window lodging into his face and eye. Thankfully, he has regained his vision and is now healing.

Because we are not in a designated flood zone, we did not have flood insurance. Despite New York declaring our area a State of Emergency, we’ve been informed by our insurance adjuster that our damages will not be covered. We are now faced with the daunting task of cleaning up, covering remediation costs, and making repairs—all out of pocket.