The NWS had enough weather balloons up and that kind of tracking; what they didn't have, as you noted, was the downstream position filled that is the contact with the local weather alert contacts. There was no one to pass along the information. That person was fired in late April.

My dogs get glucosamine chews once a day. The cats I am feeding this week get it in as a powder sprinkled on their evening meal. My mother used to take it. It's a well-known remedy.