Posted on Fri, Jun. 23, 2006

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Evacuation plan makes horse sense

Owners of large animals urged to be first out in case of a hurricane

By JAN A. IGOE

The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News

You know the drill. Whenever a storm threatens the coast, it’s time to board up the windows, top off the gas tank, swing by the ATM and wonder why you haven’t moved to Montana.

Since Hurricane Katrina sounded a national wake-up call for disaster preparedness, coastal dwellers may think harder about the decision to stay or go whenever the next mega storm rumbles our way.

For horse owners in particular, a well-planned exit strategy is essential.

Results of the 2004 S.C. Equine Survey report at least 3,700 equine in Horry and Georgetown counties valued at more than $8.6 million. Their welfare could depend on timely decisions owners make before nature gets nasty.

“If I was living on the coast, and they told me a major storm was coming, I’d be gone. ... I would get the horses out,” said Mary Ellen Tobias, equine marketing specialist for the S.C. Department of Agriculture and large animal coordinator for emergency operations.

“If there’s a hurricane, I can stable as many horses as necessary. We have places they can go. Pre-planning is the name of the game.”

Through state and private contacts, Tobias can find housing for 3,500 horses and will arrange for trailers to collect the animals at the owner’s expense. “We can do it. We can’t do it at the last minute,” she said.

Statewide, Charleston County leads the pack in emergency preparedness, Tobias said.

Shawn Jones, senior project officer with the Emergency Preparedness Division, has been educating large-animal owners to get out of flood zones early — before voluntary evacuation — and know where they’re headed before they leave.

In Jones’ experience, most storm-inflicted injuries are caused by flying debris.

“On the Outer Banks (N.C.), horses have been there for hundreds of years. But they don’t have to deal with what humans throw at them — no pieces of barns or fenced areas. They know where to hide.”

Dr. Mark Shambley, equine veterinarian and chairman of the large-animal academy for the S.C. Association of Veterinarians, recommends microchipping horses before they get an opportunity to run or float away.

“During Hugo, I had patients with cuts and scrapes found four miles from their pasture. The surge took them though barbed-wire fences. The eye of the hurricane came through Summerville with winds of 135 miles per hour. McClellanville got the biggest surge (with) 22 feet of water,” Shambley said. “I had about four [horses] die from pine trees falling on them. They snap in two.”

Shambley said 90 percent of the horses recovered after Katrina were microchipped, which is Louisiana state law.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants all food animals and horses microchipped by 2009 so that outbreaks of animal disease can be tracked to their source within 48 hours.

But some local horse owners are wary of the program.

“Horses can still carry and transmit diseases that are economically important,” Shambley said.

Make sure vet records are easy to reach and vaccinations are all current, advises Kelly Bonome, developer of Horry County’s Animal Disaster Program.

“We ask that horse owners be the first to leave. We don’t want horse trailers on the road in the wind, susceptible to flipping over,” she said. “From past experience, we’ve seen too many storms come in powerful and drop off. Others pick up as they get to land,” said Bruce Johnson with Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service.

“You can’t wait till the last minute to make that determination.”

During some storms, safety is 10 minutes away. Other times, it’s 100 miles.

“Make advance agreements with some place inland,” Johnson said. “It’s best to err on the side of caution if you’re going to go to the time and trouble to get the large animals out.”

Garrison Arena, between Pendleton and Clemson, has 440 stalls on site and has been on standby when hurricanes hit the coast more than once. “Since our facility is commercial, we have to coordinate with existing events to take in additional animals,” director Charles Williams said. Their weather could be sunny and dry while the coast gets drilled.

“We’re fortunate enough to have a place toward Whiteville, N.C. It’s not more than about 10 miles away. We’re on high ground there,” said Richard Petch of Farwind Stables in Calabash, N.C., where a number of local children learned to ride. “Our main concern is flooding. Most people think if you don’t have a barn away from trees, you’re better off leaving them in an open field where they can fend for themselves.”

Inlet Point Plantation Stables in North Myrtle Beach has 40 horses and pleasure riders to protect. “We worry about thunder and lightening. We don’t even take a chance. If it’s raining, we can’t have riders two hours away,” said general manager Mark Smith. “The last time we moved the horses away from a hurricane was in the mid-1990s. Since that time, it’s too hectic getting 40 horses out. You have to make 10 or 15 trips.”

Chris Spivey considered evacuating from Nichols during back-to-back storms one year, but ended up riding them out,” she said. “Now I’ve got seven (horses), so I don’t know how I’d accommodate them right now with a four-horse trailer. I won’t leave them.”