I was very near Charlotte in 1989 for Hugo and
it was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through. That was a category 3 and we were in the area where people from the coast had evacuated to be safe.
Yes, they may need to go further North like VA Horse Center. Carolina Horse Park is further in. I bet Chat will open too and they have permanent stabling.
People saying this is a bad time of year are off base in my opinion. This is our prime eventing season. Yes…crappy weather this year but typically it’s beautiful weather. I’ll be driving down for WEG but dang…need to think through which way we go. And while I’ve been through several hurricanes and do take them seriously I don’t know what direction I hope it will go. Those of us North are just saturated at the moment. I can’t ever remember so many events having to cancel for wet weather…or so much flooding. And I feel like Florida has been slammed enough too. So I’ll vote for just fizzling out like the massive one did near Hawaii a few weeks ago (though the Big Island got hammered with rain. And I’m off to go buy some new rain gear.
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Augusta, GA chiming in here, about 40 minutes from Aiken. Several big places like Highfields, Bruce’s and others are full and small places are filling up rapidly. I’m supposed to farm sit for a friend who is going to WEG as a volunteer/spectator so I’m a bit concerned, but thankful we are far enough inland where we will just get a lot of rain, and that’s bearable.
I knew him in his younger days. 
Oh, he wouldn’t remember me from Adam I assure you; we all competed together in Italy in my junior years. Always a superb rider, even then it was obvious how he stood heads and tails above the “rest” of the pack.
However Florence plans to visit the Carolinas, just be safe everyone and plenty of dry socks. Went thru Katrina and Rita and dry socks were at the top of my list. I am sure the WEG officials are on their game and will ensure everyone’s safety.
Have you guys seen the groom quarters? Thoughts?
I saw a short video clip on FB of the very primitive setup before the poster took it down bc apparently the FEI was threatening to take away accreditation from the grooms (??). It honestly looked like bunk beds inside a large tent with no real air circulation. If that truly is the case, that’s pretty awful.
A friend of mine told me that some of those tents are similar to what the military has on deployment with AC etc. but the video (now removed) cited no AC or heat and inappropriate bathroom/shower facilities, and suggested this was one reason for the media blackout.
I posted on the WEG forum and someone said it was volunteer quarters put up by a local church, but if that’s the case why is FEI making threats?
RE the hurricane–there have been notices that people further east have already reserved stalls at FENCE and Harmon Field (both earlier iterations of the local big horse show facility, still in use for “smaller” events) should they need to evacuate from the coast. They have put out calls for volunteers to help out with animal care, should evacuations be needed. So there is some assumption that the area will be okay if the hurricane comes inland. Kind of a crunch, given that many people are committed to vol’ing at TIEC. Their other big worry should be the traffic issues actually getting to the Tryon area, should they have to evacuate.
But even heavy rains could be problematic at TIEC, I should think–some of the construction hasn’t been through a bad storm yet, and only Mother Nature can really test even the best of engineering (not so much the buildings, but the bare land around them). Not to mention that some surfaces aren’t finished in the sense of good growth of things that help hold soil. Non-established sod and recently-spread screenings and new plantings aren’t the best surfaces for enduring a deluge. It is true that the footing at TIEC is really pretty spectacular, but there are plenty of areas (spectators, and such) that can’t yet be that secure.
Will just have to hope for the best!
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Who’s staying in the cabins onsite at TIEC? The ones that have been up for a couple of years & people could rent at shows? I figured that’s where they were putting grooms.
I heard it from several reliable sources who are in the know that this was going to be a shit show. Bellissimo is known to talk a huge game, make all sorts of promises and then just back out using BS letters as was presented on the FEI website.
There were certain issues that also came about at the AECs too given this man’s ego outweighing his wallet.
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Tryon is in the foothills and is actually about 1100 feet above sea level, compared to, say, Carolina Horse Park which is 2 hours from the coast and only about 300 feet above sea level.
It is a much different landscape once you get a bit West in the state. Not to say they won’t have weather, but most of our hurricane activity diminishes in strength by the time it gets that far in.
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I was in Chicago for the AECs when Ike hit Houston. We had 9" of rain in 24 hours resulting in the cancellation of all upper level xc. And we were 1100 miles away but the rain came from that hurricane.
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…and it appears the “rustic” groom accommodations went viral. Here’s the response from TIEC: http://eventingnation.com/mark-bellissimo-responds-to-public-outrage-over-weg-groom-housing/
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There is an article on Weather Underground here: https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Hurricane-Florence-Expected-Rapidly-Intensify-Serious-Rainfall-Threat-US-East-Coast that suggests that Florence could be an East Coast Harvey, stalling over NC/Virginia and dumping feet of rain.
It’s still early yet, so maybe she will change her path and head farther north–or south.
I was going to mention Ike in 2008. The winds from that hurricane knocked out power to the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area to 90% of homes. And it took 8 days to get everyone back on grid.
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My worry would be flash flooding coming off the mountains and major issues with turf/sod that isn’t well established yet.
I might be more worried than I need to be, given that I’m not entirely familiar with the area… hope that’s the case as I really want this to be a great event for everyone. 
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Jim Cantore said, this morning, that Florence could stall and dump up to 40" of rain, inland.
I remember Ike hitting Northern KY and the rains at the AEC’s (AESeas) in Chicago. I lived through Fredrick, which hit Alabama. I was living in Tuscaloosa, which is about 5 hrs. from where Fredrick hit. We had 75 mph winds, which knocked out power for 5 days.
If this one hits as a Cat 3 or 4, I believe that inland will be affected. Shoot. The Cat 1 that just hit the gulf dropped 5-6" here in KY.
I pray that Florence does not stall and drop a boatload of rain! Of course, that might shift the focus away from all of the “I’m sorry” quotes coming from Tryon, about not finishing the facilities. :no:
Stalling fronts, hurricanes, tropical storms are a huge concern for flash flooding. In 2016, I got 6 feet of water in my house due to stalling front that dumped 33 inches over 3 days. Harvey is still fresh on people’s mind from last year.
When hurricane are that strong, you still can get tropical storm/hurricane force winds and a heck of a lot of rain. It looks like it may be in the area that they are currently projecting a lot of rain in.
