October 2021 Polo Player's Edition- Floods, Fires and Wind

Floods, Fires and Wind

How To Prepare For Natural Disasters

By Heather Smith Thomas

Don’t underestimate the power of Mother Nature. Heed warnings and be prepared.

No one wants to envision what might happen to their horses if suddenly faced with a flood, hurricane, tornado, wildfire, earthquake or some other natural disaster, but in some parts of the country these devastating events are a reality of life. Horse owners need to be prepared, and have a plan for dealing with these possibilities. Where you live will make a difference in what you prepare for. A horse owner in the Rocky Mountains won’t need to worry about hurricanes or tornadoes, but might be threatened by raging wildfire on any dry year.

Rustin Moore, DVM, PhD (Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University) says it pays to have a plan. “If you live where flooding or hurricanes might occur, or fires occur with regularity, you need a plan in your mind or written down so you don’t have to do a lot of thinking during an emergency. There may not be much time to figure things out, so you need an exit strategy—a plan for how to get out, safely, with your animals, and secure your place against whatever disaster you may be dealing with, before you leave,” he says.

He suggests having basic first-aid supplies on hand, and easy-to-access phone numbers for veterinarians and for people who might be able to help transport your horses—especially if you don’t have a trailer, or just a two-horse trailer and six horses to evacuate. “Part of the planning is to figure out how you can get the horses quickly out of your place,” says Moore.

Don’t Wait

Be mindful of weather predictions and other situation reports. Tornadoes can pop up swiftly, but hurricanes, floods or wildfires usually give some lead time to get out of their way. If there’s an out-ofcontrol fire in your area and the forecast is for high winds, take heed. A fire can travel dozens of miles very fast if there is wind.

“Don’t wait until the last minute, thinking that the fire won’t get to your place or might be diverted another direction, or that a hurricane will miss you or be less powerful than predicted,” says Moore.

“This is what happened with Hurricane Katrina. People had plenty of time to get out, but ignored the warnings until it was too late. Part of the issue was unpredictable things, like the levees breaking, causing flooding. The hurricane itself wasn’t actually as bad as they thought it would be, but the flooding was disastrous,” he explains.

Dennis French, DVM (College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois) says it’s important to have your trailers functional and serviced and ready to go at a moment’s notice whether to take your own horses somewhere or to help rescue other horses.

“In our experience with hurricane Katrina when I was in Louisiana, some volunteers brought trailers that weren’t safe. A horse stepped through the floor of one trailer,” says French. You can’t just grab an old trailer that’s been sitting somewhere unused and expect it to be ready to go.

Be prepared ahead so you can load and evacuate horses quickly. This means having horses trailertrained. Like a fire drill for school children, horses need to know what to expect and you won’t waste precious time trying to load a reluctant horse.

John Madigan, DVM, UC-Davis, says that if there’s a warning about a flood, fire or some other impending disaster and you are notified that it is out of control, early evacuation could be very important, even if you are not sure where you will go. “If you are in an area at risk, simply leave that area and then use communication sources like the radio, texting or social networking to find out where you could go with your animals.”

You may save your horses’ lives by leaving early so they won’t be in the middle of a serious problem. Sometimes people wait too long, hoping the fire or flood won’t reach them, and then it’s too late.

“Some people try to first get all the information about where they could go, but the first thing to do is get out of harm’s way and then decide where you can go,” says Madigan.

Stranded

“Have a plan for yourself and your family,” says Dr. Rebecca McConnico, Louisiana Tech University. “Then you can make a plan for how you’d care for your animals. You want a first aid kit and enough supplies for several days,” she says.

In some situations, you might not be able to leave home right away. “Maybe the roads are closed, or a train is derailed and blocking the only exit, or there’s a flu outbreak in people (or COVID restrictions) and they’re not letting anyone go anywhere. Humans will be cared for first, and there might be food drops for people, but animals might not be cared for until the human needs are met. Do you have enough feed and clean water for X amount of days for your horses?” she asks.

“You can obtain plastic 50-gallon barrels to fill with water when you might need water for your horses (or your family) for a week or so. You could fill those as soon as you realize you might need some uncontaminated water,” she says. Store hay off the ground if you know there will be a flood. You need a plan for what you might be able to quickly do to ensure the horses have feed and water.

“Some people think they need to stockpile grain, but horses don’t need grain as long as they have hay. If there’s no hay available, they could live on a commercial “complete diet” product, which many feed companies market,” says McConnico.

Madigan says you should always have supplies and food on hand for at least two or three days for you and your horses. A small generator could be very important if you have no power and can’t pump water from a well for the horses. Many people are affected secondarily (even if their area was not flooded or burned, or buried in heavy snowfall), if they don’t have power.

Different kinds of disasters pose different kinds of problems. “Here in California earthquakes are common. This usually involves structural loss, and the secondary problem is loss of power and water,” says Madigan. It’s always wise to have a plan for what you would do in this situation.

Wildfires can move or change direction quickly. Practice diligent preventative measures and have an evacuation plan in place.

Wildfires

Horse owners in arid regions must be prepared for fires, especially if property is adjacent to forested or un-grazed public land or to neighbors with forest or un-grazed pastures with lots of dry grass. It is crucial to practice diligent preventative measures on your own property, and have a plan for evacuation if wildfire cannot be halted before it reaches you.

Brush control is important, along with making sure there are no dense stands of trees near buildings. Dry vegetation is your greatest danger. During a drought it may be impossible to keep your pastures watered, but you can try to keep things green around your house and barn or mowed or grazed to where there is not enough dry fuel to carry a fire. Mow weedy pastures before the weeds get dry. Remove all debris and dead or dry plants within at least a 30-foot radius around any buildings.

Metal roofs, metal fencing material, etc. are the safest construction in an arid climate. Buildings should not be close together; open space between them may keep fire from jumping from one to another. Roadways should be at least 10 feet wide (18 feet is better) to provide access for fire-fighting equipment, with adequate turn-around areas.

Have adequate water sources for fighting fire. The fire department probably can’t save your barn and buildings if all you have are hydrants for watering horses. An irrigation mainline, or a pond/stream that could be pumped from, are preferable. If fire is approaching but not yet dangerous enough for evacuation, keep your yard and buildings watered down to prevent the chance of ignition from drifting embers.

Have an evacuation plan for your horses. Do you have enough trailers to get them all out in a hurry? A neighborhood network is helpful. Keep trailers and trucks serviced and ready to go. Select possible evacuation routes ahead of time, and have a plan for where you might go—to a holding area or facility— with your horses.

Have extra halters and ropes, and make sure they are cotton; nylon will melt in high heat and cause serious injury. Take along wire cutters, a crowbar, first aid kit, buckets, flashlight and batteries, gloves, boots, towels (for possible use as blindfolds), and wet down the horses’ manes and tails if possible. If you have to leave quickly, without your horses, turn them out into a big pasture; don’t leave any animals in barns or small pens.

Make sure trucks and trailers are serviced, filled with fuel and at the ready. Have an exit strategy for getting your horses to safety quickly.

Evacuating

If there is need for immediate evacuation—an impending hurricane, a swiftly approaching wildfire, an approaching flood (from a massive rainstorm upstream) a chemical spill or some other man-caused accident, and you were told you had only X hours to get out—think about what you would do. “Would you have enough gas in your vehicles, would you be able to hook up your trailer, would your horses load?” asks McConnico. Make sure you have enough halters and lead ropes.

“Depending on the state you live in, make sure you have up-to-date health papers and Coggins test,” says Moore. “In a disaster situation these regulations may be waived, but you should always have the paperwork ready, and know where it is—with all the other things you might need at a moment’s notice,” he says.

McConnico points out that it is important to keep horses’ vaccinations up to date, and Coggins information current. “Maybe you are a month overdue with this, and then suddenly find you have to evacuate your horses and take them to a certain place that won’t let them onto the property unless you can show that they’ve been vaccinated or have a current negative Coggins test. It is best to have this done on schedule,” she says.

It is wise to keep up with vaccinations because your horses will be exposed to other animals in this scenario. There is also risk for injury if your horse has to fend for itself during a period of time, so tetanus vaccines should also be current. You want your horses to be in the best situation possible, to survive whatever may happen.

If you might have to haul horses, always have at least a half tank of gas in your truck. “If you head out with horses, have supplies at hand that you can take along—a bale of hay, buckets, a hose, wire cutters, etc. and make sure you can take care of yourself and your horses if you have to take them somewhere else—where there might not be any facilities or tools available,” says Madigan. “If you go to an empty fairgrounds and there are no hoses or buckets, you might not have a way to water your horse. Don’t assume someone else will have all these things,” he says.

Every plan will be different, depending on where you are located, and your own situation. “Two adjacent farms could have very different situations,” says Moore. “One has a trailer and one doesn’t. One has a dozen horses and the other has one horse. Evacuation plans must be customized, and people should give this some thought ahead of time.” There may be specific things you’d need to consider. “If you live in an area more prone to hurricanes than fires, leaving the horses behind or not may vary, and where you leave them may also vary,” says Moore.

If you have to leave horses behind, it is generally safer to leave them outside rather than in a barn or small paddock where they might get trapped.

Horses Left Behind

“Part of being prepared, if you might have to leave your horses, is to make sure they will have water for several days” says Moore. “The feed is not as important as water, but it would be helpful if they have access to hay or pasture versus locked in a stall with nothing to eat, but drinking is the most important,” he says.

French says that even five to 10 gallons of water might help a horse survive longer than if it had none at all. People also wonder whether it is better to leave their horses indoors or turn them out. “One of the things we learned, dealing with hurricanes (when I was at Louisiana State University), whether to leave the horses indoors or turn them out in the face of a storm, is that turning them out is probably better. There’s always the risk that a tree might fall on them, but they wouldn’t be trapped in the barn. This would also apply in a flood,” he says.

The horses would be able to find high ground if they are loose. If they are in a barn they may be trapped, and drown. If a wildfire sweeps through your place, they might also be safer in an open pasture than trapped in a barn or small paddock. What’s best may vary with each situation.

In most situations, horses are better off outdoors. “If you can turn them loose with some sort of identification they have a better chance than confined in a barn,” says French. Some owners may be reluctant to turn them loose, but it might save their horses.

Horse ID

If you have to leave your animals behind, it’s helpful if they have permanent identification such as a tattoo or brand. “If they don’t have any identification, many people use spray paint or livestock markers (paint sticks used at an auction) to put temporary ID information on the animals before turning them loose,” says French.

“It’s a great idea to put a phone number on the horse’s side, but use the number of a friend or relative outside your area. When we were working with rescued horses from Katrina, if they had the home phone or cell phone we couldn’t reach the owners because there was no phone or cell service. You need to use the number of someone who can be reached,” says French.

“Another thing that helped us identify horses was working with local veterinarians. Often they would recognize a certain horse and point us toward an owner. Microchips are a good idea, and some states are using these. This makes it a lot easier to track down an owner,” he explains.

After hurricane Katrina and Rita, some people just picked up loose horses and took them home. “Most owners wanted their horses back if they could be located and rescued,” says French.

“There are many humane groups, however, who take skinny horses and use them as poster children for promoting their own agenda. We had to use security forces a few times because there were people trying to steal horses to take back to their humane group and feed them up (to get before and after pictures) to show what a wonderful job their organization is doing. A disaster brings out the best in people and the worst in people. There are always some who take advantage of a situation,” says French.

Madigan says it’s crucial to have each of your animals identified, even if it’s just something you can clip to the halter or around the horse’s neck. “It also helps to have a photo of the animal, in case you have to drop the horse off somewhere, and somebody asks you to prove it’s your horse when you come back. If there are 2000 horses at a fairgrounds, it’s good to have a photograph of you with your own horse. Even just a digital image of you and your horse can make a big difference,” he says.

Horses in Louisiana are all required to have permanent ID—which can be a microchip, lip tattoo or a brand of some sort. “Not every facility has microchip scanners,” says McConnico. “If the microchip is on a Coggins form, you should be able to track it through your state veterinarian’s office— if they logged in everything. When dealing with Katrina we had many rescued horses with microchips, but we couldn’t just send the USDA the microchip number of a horse and have them tell us the owner because some had never been logged into the database,” she says.

Identify Resources Ahead of Time

Rebecca McConnico says the first thing horse owners should do is find out what the risks might be in their area, and make a plan to deal with possibilities. “Identify your resources for situations that might affect you. A lot of information will come from communicating with people in your area to find out what your resources are as a family, as a barn, or local group,” she explains.

“The people who live in southern California and other arid regions that deal with wildfires usually have a plan because they’ve been through it before,” she says. After having gone through any kind of disaster, you have more idea about what to do for the next one. But communities that haven’t dealt with this need to make a plan.

“We encourage people to have a partner to work with in case of disaster. A stable owner should have a partner barn; a veterinary practice should have a partner practice in the same town and another one in a different region in case of a widespread disaster. We try to keep the organized resources within one state, if possible, so we don’t have to worry about interstate agreements or memorandums of understanding, or horse travel between states,” she explains.

“You need a plan within your community and within your state. Maybe a tornado takes out your barn and there are several horses injured but you also have 20 other horses that now suddenly need a place to live. If you have a partnering network with another barn or two, you could farm out horses to those barns to be cared for until you get back on your feet again and take them back. The buddy system is something people can relate to; they start thinking about other people they can count on. You never know when you might need that kind of support,” says McConnico.

Identify resources for situations that might affect you. Find places that might take your horses in an emergency evacuation.

Preparedness Planning

John Madigan helped write the AAEP’s Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Guidelines (which can be viewed on the AAEP website). He says UC-Davis also has publications to help educate horse owners about disaster preparedness. “We train first responders in emergency and disaster situations, to help them deal with horse and livestock evacuations in wildfires and other emergencies. We help people plan prevention strategies, emergency response, hurricane rescue of horses, emergency animal sheltering, dealing with loose livestock running through towns, etc. We advise people on how to contain these animals, and on chemical capture methods (tranquilizer darts, etc.) if they don’t have people available who are trained in capturing loose animals,” he says.

“We have a list of things we recommend for hurricane, flood, fire, etc. With some planning and preparation, many things go more smoothly. Everyone should have a family plan. We worked with the state of California, making sure that when they had Preparedness Weeks and planning meetings that animal components were included.”

People need to have an idea where they would meet later if they have to leave home. “They need to know about facilities that are on high ground in case of flooding. Families need to talk about how they will meet up later, how they will communicate when phones and cell phones don’t work. It’s wise to have an out-of-state contact—a phone number of someone who can be a communication source if local phones are down,” says Madigan.

Just knowing about places you could take horses (in emergency evacuation) is important—like a fairgrounds or racetrack that might be able to house extra horses. Being able to take care of yourself for a day or two without outside help is also crucial if it might be awhile before you or your animals could be rescued.

Find out where the closest large animal technical rescue people are located. Even if you have an isolated incident like a horse falling into a swimming pool, or through the ice on a pond, or in a accident in which they get covered with gas or diesel or exposed to toxic chemicals—you might need emergency help.

There are people who can help in times of crisis with horses. “Some have gone through training for handling horses in these situations. Much of our problem-solving involves networking, finding the people who can help,” says McConnico. “It’s amazing how networking, and using social media to network, can help—and this also applies to disaster assistance when horse owners need help with equine rescues.”

Communication Connections

Madigan says it’s important to find out where to get information. There may be a horse evacuation group or community organization that has a Facebook page where you could see what facilities, roads etc. are open and which ones are closed.

“Communication via social networks has proven useful. Some phone services will be down but you will often still have texting capabilities, so it helps to have a phone that will do that—and be able to charge it when you are out of power,” he says.

“What’s your plan for communication if cell phones and electricity aren’t working?” asks McConnico. “In Hurricane Katrina we didn’t have any way to communicate. In any large-scale disaster you might be unable to use cell phones. Texting worked a little, in our situation, but you can’t always count on it, either. If the electricity is out and you don’t have a battery, then what do you do?” she asks.

“In situations where there is no form of communication you might use On-Star satellite communication, to collect information needed and to get word out that there’s a horse or 50 horses that need assistance, or that there’s someone available who could provide assistance,” says McConnico.