The problem inland is likely to be flooding - if it comes in and sit awhile the area awhile as predicted trees will be down due to saturated ground.
1 Like
Tilghman Island is an…island…somewhat in the middle of the Chesapeake. Well known for seafood, especially oysters and crabs.
My first point of contact would be the bride…what are her “hurricane contingency plans”…will she set a rain date, or its wedding day regardless?
Tilghman Island is a beautiful place…but definitely not high land, so flooding and road access might be a problem.
The wedding venue might have problems with flooding or staff as the governor might call a state of emergency making road travel illegal…so asking the bride about her contingency plans would be a good starting place.
I would be appropriately concerned, but not panicked…and keep tuned in to the National Hurricane Service bulletins.
But if you go, definitely pack serious rain gear (water proof NOT water resistant). Rubber shoes, duck boots or wellies will probably be more appropriate than a pair of Jimmy Choo’s.
The Carolina’s seem designed to get the brunt of the storm, but the mid-Atlantic will probably see a lot of rain and some wind.
Plan on getting wet…and plan accordingly.
7 Likes
The way they’re describing this storm reminds me very much of Floyd in 1999. It just stayed and stayed, raining and raining, and filled up all the rivers in NC. Which, after flooding there, flooded here.
I remember the ladies in Conway cooking big pots of chicken bog and taking them to the National Guard troops sandbagging the causeways in an effort to keep Myrtle Beach from being completely cut off by flood waters. And that was a couple of weeks after the storm made landfall.
Thank you so much… I had glanced at my wellies and thought maybe I was being silly. They are now in the pile to load and I’m going through my serious camping gear 
1 Like
If you are going to the Black Walnut Inn or anywhere towards the south of the island, flooding could be serious…been there…the tip of Tilghman Island is surrounded by water…and mosquitoes.
I would be checking with the bride because there is potential of flooding the access road that travels south to the Inn. The road borders the bay…and in places is right next to the bay…so potential for flooding and cutting off access is real.
If you are further north towards town…then the flooding might not be as big a problem…but best to check with bride to see her plans.
1 Like
Will do. She posted this morning that they are keeping a close eye on things. It’s at the Wylder Hotel which looks to be on the northern side of things… fingers crossed…
@pAin’t_Misbehavin’, what is your plan? I know having three horses complicates things a lot, and makes it tough to leave. But at least you must be pretty far inland. Are you close to the river?
We are still debating, but leaning toward staying. We are about four miles from the ocean, so storm surge won’t be an issue for us. We have wetlands about 15 feet from the house, past our tiny back yard, but the house is quite a bit above it, with a retaining wall between the end of the yard and the wetlands. My neighborhood didn’t flood during Matthew.
I am hoping my pony will be OK, being farther inland and a little higher elevation (as high as it gets around here!). The BO puts everyone in the barn for extreme weather conditions.
Rebecca
@Displaced Yankee Thanks, I will share that link.
Also the info posted about FENCE.
Hoping she has no use for the latter, but too much is always better than too little.
I’m 35 miles inland and on high ground, so we’re staying. We are a good five miles from the nearest river. It’s hard to know where to evacuate to - Hugo hit Charlotte worse than it did MB.
I heard from Dr. Heather that they’ll start ordering evacuations for our local coastal zones in the morning, so I’d advise anyone in coastal SC who plans to evacuate with horses to do so today. Nothing worse than being stuck in evacuation traffic with horses.
Mine live out 24/7 with access to shelter, so I let them decide where they want to be. That way, I don’t drive myself crazy with “what if I leave them out and they get hit by flying debris?” and “what if I leave them in and the barn collapses?”
But I am 1/2 mile from the nearest paved road, and two miles off Hwy 9. If I were close to a major road I’d probably be more worried about downed trees letting horses escape. I have Premier electric rope fencing, so when a tree drops on it, it doesn’t break. The tree plugs up the hole until I remove it, at which point the rope springs back into place!
I’ll put fly masks on with breakaway halters over them. I write my phone number in permanent marker on the halters. I also got some of those bright yellow livestock tags and will braid them into the manes in case the halters actually break away.
As for the smaller mammals, we’ll all be inside the house DH’s great-grandfather built in the early 1930’s. It weathered Hazel and Hugo and Floyd and all the smaller storms, so knock wood it will do so again.
I don’t know, though, if I lived where you do, I think I might tell the BO to take good care of my pony and head to Memphis. Or Oklahoma City. Cause if this is a Hugo-like storm we could be without power for two or three weeks. Not much fun.
Stay safe!
1 Like
If you are in an area and must evacuate, or are staying and could be seriously affected, make sure you get enough cash to survive life for a week or so. No power means no ATMs, or credit card machines.
4 Likes
I’ve updated my first post so more people will see this up thread.
NC State Fairgrounds is not taking horses.
Carolina Horse Park is.
Pinehurst Harness Track is taking horses but it sounds like it may be limited.
1 Like
I am out in the mountains in VA and the models are predicting anywhere from 5-10 inches of rain on the low side and 15-20 inches on the high side. Luckily we live on a ridge but I will be checking out the culvert pipes along the driveway and may do some drainage ditch scraping before thursday. Since it has been raining for a few days, the ground is already saturated. So heavy rain will be a repeat of the flooding the area has already suffered this year.
I checked the propane tank and called the supplier to have it filled as it is a little low. That tank supplies everything in the house including the whole house generator. I also checked the oil level on the generator and test ran off of the auto switch. We stay fully operational as long as the generator is running.
I’ll make sure that the tractor is topped off with diesel and that I have fuel for the chain saw. I’ll probably pick up an extra chain for the saw.
2 Likes
Hurricane Irma was my first hurricane, I’m in Ocala FL.
I was sooooo torn between in or out, I asked like 30 different people who’d been here for decades what they do.
The main consensus from vets is/was, they see the worst injuries outside (from flying debris) but the most deaths inside (from collapsed buildings). There are pros and cons for both, no right answer, do what your gut tells you. We started with them all outside, in fields with the least amount of trees. After 15 hours of rain my thoroughbreds were miserable and shivering, and I took a risk and brought them in. Our barn was built in the 80s and survived H. Andrew and everything in between, so I felt it was sturdy enough, plus there’s no trees close enough to it to fall on it. The TBs were much happier inside, and our barn made it through intact. The ponies outside were also perfectly fine, they huddled together in a low area without trees as another poster mentioned.
We stored about 500 gallons of water in various containers in preparation, and went through it quickly, so we bought a generator mid week. We were without power for six days, I believe. We lost about four big oaks, including one that was technically my neighbor’s but right on the property line, which took out our fence and the power line.
The huge amount of time we had to prepare was a blessing and a curse. We filled our cars and several gas cans the Tuesday before she came (Sat/Sun), and thus only had half tanks by the time the hurricane actually hit due to last minute trips to the store for this and that. Bought tons of non-perishable snacks that we inevitably ate half of.
If you evacuate, yes, have all your important paperwork - mortgage docs, horse health docs, etc. If you don’t evacuate, put the paperwork in water-proof containers.
Clean up all loose items around the barn - pitchforks, wheelbarrows, etc. I even dragged all my jumps down to the barn and stuffed them in a stall, thought that was probably overkill.
I am always surprised by people that think being inland means the storm won’t affect them. Houston is a bit inland too. When you get that much rain it doesn’t matter if you’re on the coast.
6 Likes
If you are on I-95 close toFlorence, SC don’t try to use I-20 to go inland because construction has it down to one lane, in both directions, and the Highway Patrol isn’t reversing the east bound lane.
If if you can get sterno that is good stuff after you’ve lost power. We were in Charleston during Hugo and the damage from the wind kept the power off for 2 weeks.
Having had horses that survived major hurricanes (including Ike) in Houston, I’m now looking at Florence in NC. The eye is projected to go right over my house. In any event, we expect at least Tropical Storm level winds in the Siler City/Chapel Hill area. And TONS of rain.
When I lived in Houston, a friend and I tried to flee from a hurricane with our horses, and voted to turn around when we were slightly above a half-tank of gas. Don’t underestimate common evacuation routes-we turned around and went home due to the traffic.
@Ruth0552, Houston is an interesting case of an inland city prone to flooding. There is little in the way of topography or tree density to slow an eastward incoming hurricane down. But, the city has learned a lot from 20 years of flooding events to manage it differently.
From Ike, I learned that preparation was key. The supermarkets had 2 hour windows with armed guards. Gas lines were horrific (so gas up prior). That was likely due to the fact that I lived in the fourth largest city in America and people were angry. I think there would have been serious murders if the temps were not cool for that time of year. My favorite line from the radio was in response to a woman FREAKING OUT that there was no water on the supermarket shelves. The commentator said “umm, go to your faucet right now. The storm hasn’t hit and your water is working. Fill containers.” The woman said “Oh”. 
5 Likes
they will start reverse flow today on some roads leading inland at noon
Residents in eight counties along the coast — Jasper, Beaufort, Colleton, Charleston, Dorchester, Berkeley, Georgetown and Horry — must begin evacuating by noon Tuesday, McMaster said at a news briefing.
McMaster said the state will reverse lanes on four main roads — so that all lanes are leading away from the coast — to facilitate the evacuation
As of noon Tuesday, lanes will reverse on Interstate 26 from Charleston to Columbia and U.S. 501 from Myrtle Beach.
U.S. 278 and 21 in Beaufort County will be ready for reversal as of noon Tuesday, but officials will wait to make an order at that time.
The reversal on I-26 will begin at the interchange of I-26 and I-526 in Charleston and continue west until the I-26 crossover to I-77, just outside Columbia in Lexington County.
Horry County will have two four-lane reversals along U.S. 501 — from S.C. 544 to U.S. 378, and between S.C. 22 and S.C. 576 near Marion County.
https://www.thestate.com/news/state/…218123955.html
recent storm path projects are the storm is to stall inland then dump about three feet of rain on the North and South Carolina
here is something I really never thought of but sure makes for easy identification of ownership of horses, I know after other hurricanes hundreds and hundreds of horses were not matched back up with owners
Have photos of yourself with your animals to prove ownership if you become separated
http://scemd.cdn.missc.net/media/1282/2018-hurricane-guide_website.pdf
2 Likes
Thank you Clanter !!!
I live in Ontario, and have a low level of hurricane awareness. Our son is a Master’s of Disaster and Emergency Management student, and I predict extensive conversation in the next few days. Having reviewed the documents Clanter attached, I feel prepared to engage in the discussions.
The strongest message I carry forward is the need to believe YOU personally may be affected. Previous experience may lead one to believe they will suffer minimal impact, as previous predictions of disaster were not fulfilled. Thus, one can become complacent. “It is never as bad as they say it will be”, “Grandpa built this house 75 years ago, and it has withstood storms”, “Our neighbors house flooded last time, but our’s didn’t”, and on and on. Each event is unique, and one is not able to anticipate the outcome.
Common sense must prevail. Prepare !!! Heck, I have even pulled the rain sheets out of storage as the possibility of heavy rains is predicted to stretch as far as Ontario! Follow the recommendations provided by authorities. READ the documents attached by Clanter.
Most of all, believe it could happen to you. Stay safe my southern friends, I will be thinking of you.
2 Likes
Thanks again!
I have texted this info to her, she is very close to the Pinehurst Harness track & CHP.
Also provided info re: gassing up vehicles & storing water (they are on a well).
Hoping all Carolinians & their animals stay safe & sound through this weather disaster.
Irma left a friend in FL w/o power for 2 weeks & his health was not the best to begin.
If you are driving from KY, you should start to see the effects of wind and rain that far inland by Thursday evening in KY.
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/gra…toa34#contents
The NHC puts the impact of the storm on Tilghman’s Island to be hit with 6"-10" of water, so inundations are probably a real threat in all the low ground. I would continue to monitor the situation so you don’t drive into a disaster area.
1 Like
