With emergency rescues happening throughout the Southern Tier, Broome County's animal response team has also been hard at work.

Dozens of dogs and cats were rescued in Vestal, Kirkwood and Conklin, along with their owners. Red Cross volunteers say more than 40 people have gone to shelters in the past few days.

This was the first time locally that the Red Cross worked with the animal response team for sheltering.

"After Katrina and the numbers of fatalities that occurred from people refusing to evacuate due to their pets not being able to go with them, laws were created on the state and federal level to make it a crime to not allow people to evacuate with their pets," said Broome County Animal Response Team Co-Coordinator Jennifer Whitcombe-Jones.

The animal response team is made up of trained volunteers who work alongside Broome County's emergency services department.