When Hurricane Katrina was predicted in the local weather forecast, I along with the rest of us in Michigan, thought it was a normal event. After all it did little to no damage to Florida as it passed over. But as I watched the radar tracking it was a lot bigger than normal. The storm itself was the size of United Kingdom, and spinning at over 150 MPH in the eye. When the storm made landfall on Aug 29, 2005, it covered three states Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, with the eye going straight up the Mississippi River.

After watching the news, for two days it became apparent this was a huge disaster. The flooding in New Orleans was big news, mostly because of the amount of people affected and the lack of quick assistance. But the huge devastation was just coming to light in Mississippi. As I watched the coverage and started receiving emails about the horses in Mississippi it was apparent that something had to be done.

On September 4, 2005 I along with two friends, left for Mississippi. Being a firefighter in Michigan I was used to the damage caused by Tornados and high wind. These types of storms can level a house, and cause a lot of damage. What I saw when I arrived in Mississippi shocked me. In the northern part of Mississippi, there were acres of pines and other woods leveled, like a field of hay on the ground after a thunderstorm. As we went further south, the damage to structures and billboards was increasing.

Once we arrived in Jackson Mississippi, we had to get clearance and ID’s to continue further in to the state. There was a huge bureaucracy involved; the states elected officials thought there was no need for large animal rescue, because they can survive anything. And we should redirect our mission to food and clothing. But we continued to pitch the need of the horses and finally received permission from the State Veterinarian.

The following day we proceeded south to the Gulf of Mexico, the first county we started work in was Jackson County, this is the closest to Alabama. We hooked up with a group performing small animal rescue (dogs and cats) and asked them for guidance in the mission. Later that day we met up with others that had heard about the devastation, and wanted to help. We had about a dozen personnel and 4 trucks ready to hit the streets looking for horses in need.

“The volunteer rescue crew and vehicles”

As we drove around Jackson County, we didn’t find a lot of horses in need, but we saw very interesting sights, such as a yacht in the middle of the freeway, steel bridges moved three feet off the foundation and considerable structural damage.

The following day we spent in Northern Hancock County, this county is closest to Louisiana; we were driving for only 20 minutes when we came upon the first farm. When we knocked on the door they were very happy to see us. Their field and pastures had flooded and in the house we could see the water damage from the storm surge. The water marks were 7 feet high on the walls. All of their feed was wet, and their hay had molded. But worse yet the ponds that were left in the pastures were filled with salt water, and the horses were dehydrated. We had arrived at this farm 8 days after the storm. While all the animals were alive they needed a lot of medical attention. We called the veterinarian in that was assigned to the county from Virginia, and called back to our base for a truck to bring out feed and hay for 7 horses, 15 cows, chickens, pigs, dogs, cats and a snake. More importantly they referred us to 13 other farms that day and we delivered 15 truck loads of feed and water. We also took 3 horses to the State Fair Grounds for extensive medical care.

“A severely malnourish and dehydrated horse, this horse later went home”

We went further south the next day and I think most of the personnel working the mission went in to shock. There were entire towns leveled, houses moved 100 feet of their foundations and every tree was dead to 30 feet above ground. The branches were killed by the 20 feet deep water and waves on top of that from the storm surge. We visited so many farms that day, they all ran together, all had loss of life; most had been buried by the local road commission. As we drove around for the next few days, we became numb to the damage, and yet we continued to help the horse population.

“A neighborhood in Hancock County, Mississippi destroyed by the storm surge.”

At the end of 10 days we had taken 25 horses to the State Fair Grounds. Most had serious lacerations from flying debris in the storm. We also had a case of plural pneumonia, which I had never seen before. This horse had swam the storm surge out for 6 hours and the owners vet had been seriously injured. Horses were treated at their home farm for dehydration, infections and all sort of hoof disorders.

“This horse Tabasco, rode out the storm and had several lacerations from flying debris. He has recovered and returned home”

We lost track of the amount of donated feed, and hay that was delivered to the farms and clinics we came upon. We received at least one semi load of grain a day, and 200 bales of hay a day. All of it made it to needy horses.

This was my first horse rescue operation I had participated in, and I learned very quickly what was needed and how to make the next one even more successful. When I returned I was asked to join the steering committee for a national horse rescue command center. And I finalized plans to start a horse rescue in Michigan. Our future plans include natural disaster relief work for equines. Having visited the ILPH last year and seen the way it operates it has inspired us to launch ‘The International League for the protection of Horses – Michigan’, working to the same objectives and Ethos of the ILPH, and have started our first fund raising drives here.

If there was one thing I would say that a lot of people learned, was that everybody should plan for any disaster, and one element is the movement of your horses to a safe place. Have a plan, and a place to move them. Your horses count on you for a safe home, food and water, they can’t plan for a fire, tornado or hurricane. You must take care of your friends and companions. They will thank you for this if the time comes.