BATON ROUGE - Local shelters are prepping for lost animals in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine, expecting missing pets to start showing up several days after the storm passes.

At Companion Animal Alliance of Baton Rouge, the facility was quiet on Friday. The majority of the animals in the facility were moved to short-term foster homes ahead of the hurricane. For reference, the facility can hold more than 200 animals.

"I've never heard it this quiet in here. It's a little eerie," Companion Animal Alliance Communications and Events Senior Manager Heidi Wetherbee said. "Since Francine weakened quite a bit before it got here, we're not anticipating as many as needing to clear our entire shelter, but we do have the space. It usually takes about three or four days after something like this for animals to be picked up and brought here."

This means there is more space for any animals that may be picked up off the streets, yards and ditches. Wetherbee added this is Companion Animal Alliance's first year having a pet reunification coordinator, a person whose specific job is to take calls, search online, and help owners find their animals.

"We have a Facebook Lost Pets page. We're starting to see things pop up on there. I'm missing my dog. I'm missing my cat. I saw this dog wandering in my neighborhood. Social media is a great opportunity to dig into that right now. We are anticipating seeing some of those slowly show up here over the next couple of days," Wetherbee said.

At the Denham Springs Animal Shelter, officials said many of the animals were sent out to foster families and boarding facilities during the storm. Even after the storm passes, animals could still be stressed.

"We found that after a hurricane, or other traumatic event in their lives, you know, sometimes they're nervous, sometimes they're apprehensive," Denham Springs Animal Shelter Assistant Director Robert Bruce said.

Bruce said there are ways to prevent pets from getting lost like checking fences before a storm, using a leash on walks, putting a microchip or tracker on pets, and making sure collars have up-to-date information.

"If it's microchipped, the only thing is to keep the registration current. It doesn't help if you have it registered to the wrong address and number," Bruce said.

Wetherbee also recommended keeping up-to-date pictures of pets in case they go missing, and take to social media to let people know.

"If you have recent pictures of them, paper them up through your neighborhood. Talk to your neighbors, use your social media, and try to get the word out that your animal is missing. This'll be the fastest way to get them back to you. Most of the time, they don't stray too far," Wetherbee said.