Hurricane Plan for WEG?

[M_al]

Sigh. My father lives less than a mile from the beach just north of Myrtle Beach, across the state line in Sunset Beach NC. So - right on that NC/SC border.

I am going for the 2nd week of WEG and I’m hoping that everyone in the coastal area uses long experience with this to prep for a big hit and that the inland impacts are, hopefully, limited. (Here’s hoping, yes?) They left a few weeks ago for Raleigh due to health issues so are relying on neighbors to get their place prepped.

There are quite a few of us coming from Colorado for the vaulting event and one of our NC vaulter friends just texted to remind us to bring raincoats. Even with all the coverage … I probably would have spaced it. LOL. One just doesn’t THINK of that heading out from CO. I’ll even look for my rubber ankle boots …

<goes back to lurkdom to continue watching storm tracker>

[drmgncolor]

@M'al

There are quite a few of us coming from Colorado for the vaulting event and one of our NC vaulter friends just texted to remind us to bring raincoats. Even with all the coverage … I probably would have spaced it. LOL. One just doesn’t THINK of that heading out from CO. I’ll even look for my rubber ankle boots …

If I continue with my plans to go to the Eventing portion, I am taking my high end rain coat, rain pants, waterproof boots and my wellies. I am also re-treating them with waterproof spray tonight.

[Carolinadreamin]

@ponysaurus

I understand and I am well aware of the state’s topography. The important point is… anywhere in the state could be impacted by this storm, coastal - piedmont - sandhills - foothills etc. depending on where and how the storm comes inland.

Bottom line - BE PREPARED.

yes, you’re quite right. I can see potential power outages should the ground be super saturated and the winds cause trees to topple.

[2tempe]

About 10 years ago, I was living in Cleveland OHIO; Hurricane Ike came barreling all the way from Texas, hit us w/ significant wind and rain. My area and many others around us were without power for ONE WEEK as a result of wind/tree damage. Part of that problem was that power repair crews were so overburdened we had to wait for help from out of state. My point here is that you cant underestimate the potential for problems.

Last year right around this time we got a direct hit by Irma as it came up central Florida. By then borderline hurricane, still caused chaos.

[bugsynskeeter]

@Prime Time Rider

The barns are certainly better equipped than the groom’s quarters!

The barns almost flooded during the reining test event earlier this year. They were pushing water out to keep it from reaching the stalls. And that wasn’t with hurricane level rains.

[Oliver4Ever]

@bugsynskeeter

The barns almost flooded during the reining test event earlier this year. They were pushing water out to keep it from reaching the stalls. And that wasn’t with hurricane level rains.

We were there. Was a terrific hail storm. Lasted an hour or two. Now they are saying Florence will stall once it reaches land. I can’t imagine. Feel sorry for all.

[vineyridge]

From what I can gather, the current prediction for the Tryon area would be 4-6" of rain on Thursday evening with 30-40 mile an hour winds; if the storm wobbles one or two degrees between now and Thursday, the effects could be truly catastrophic or reduced quite considerably. But if it stalls or bounces back into the Atlantic and re-enters, the rainfall could be in feet, not inches.

To the person who said Florence was an African hurricane, it actually isn’t. It generated in the mid-Atlantic, somewhere west of the Cape Verde Islands.

[fordtraktor]

@vineyridge

From what I can gather, the current prediction for the Tryon area would be 4-6" of rain on Thursday evening with 30-40 mile an hour winds; if the storm wobbles one or two degrees between now and Thursday, the effects could be truly catastrophic or reduced quite considerably. But if it stalls or bounces back into the Atlantic and re-enters, the rainfall could be in feet, not inches.

To the person who said Florence was an African hurricane, it actually isn’t. It generated in the mid-Atlantic, somewhere west of the Cape Verde Islands.

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2018-09-07-florence-unusual-track-united-states-east-coast

[OutsidersOpinion]

Tryon’s parking lot FLOODED (over my dirt bike tires) after an hour of heavy rain. The horse paths were in the parking lot, the schooling ring for the international ring had close to 6in of standing water, and some barns had to improvise to keep some water out. People staying near lake lure had their road wash away.

Florence could easily make all of this happen but 10x worse. I’m not worried about most of the horses as much as the infrastructure. There sure seemed to be a lot of mud slides/roads giving away in the month of May this year, plus those temporary housing structures for grooms do not look sturdy.

Also keep in mind, Europe does not really get hurricanes, which is where the majority of the teams are from:eek:

[Lord_Helpus]

As of the most recent update from the National Weather Center, the area of W NC will get 2"to 4" of rain. Very miserable but not catastrophic.
However, the Sandhills area (inclu Southern Pines) can expect 8" to 10"… imo, that is enough to wreck havoc.

[skydy]

Here is the latest from the NOAA National Hurricane Center ( if you don’t want to read the details, scroll down to “Key Messages”). This is not the time to ignore the NOAA. I hope that the WEG management and participants will keep on top of the situation.

The “oh it’s no problem for WEG because we’re inland” attitude contained in the press release seems indicative of a lack of appreciation of the seriousness of the situation. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refres…/102055.shtml?

[NeverTime]

I am rather dismayed that I can’t find any articles anywhere acknowledging this hurricane is coming and explaining what evacuation or sheltering plans are for all the horses and people (including those grooms in tents!) for this hurricane, just to acknowledge there IS some kind of plan. “Hope for the best” is not a plan. And my FB feed shows horses schooling and things going on rather blithely, as if nothing’s actually going to happen there. I hope that’s the case but it is worrying!

@windygirl

Does anyone know how affected the Charlotte airport will be? Supposed to fly in to Charlotte Thursday morning.

My DH is supposed to fly through Charlotte on Friday. He has already been contacted by the airline and told he can change his connection to a different city for free.

[windygirl]

Thanks, NeverTime! Our new thought at this point is to try to come down saturday after hopefully the worst is over. Hoping for the best for everyone in harm’s way.

[gottagrey]

@windygirl

Does anyone know how affected the Charlotte airport will be? Supposed to fly in to Charlotte Thursday morning.

Even if Charlotte airport is OK your flight may be affected due to cancellations and airlines holding aircraft out of the area during the storm. In otherwords, depending on airline and flight, your plane might not even be able to get to the airport… best bet is to just keep checking with the airline to see…

[Tackpud]

@NeverTime

I am rather dismayed that I can’t find any articles anywhere acknowledging this hurricane is coming and explaining what evacuation or sheltering plans are for all the horses and people (including those grooms in tents!) for this hurricane, just to acknowledge there IS some kind of plan. “Hope for the best” is not a plan. And my FB feed shows horses schooling and things going on rather blithely, as if nothing’s actually going to happen there. I hope that’s the case but it is worrying!

They’re not going to post a plan because that could cause security issues. For the most part, they will be continuing on with the events unless there is thunder or lightning. At the volunteer orientation we were told to prepare for the weather - bring extra clothes and lots of towels…

[js]

I hope they are considering that if they must evacuate, that they do it ahead of the storm and not in the middle of it or just before it makes land fall. Roads will be clogged with traffic and people evacuating, it’s not something you want to get caught up in, especially towing a rig with horses. Also, realize that a lot of farms and horses are evacuating from coastal areas, so inland stalls/fair grounds etc. that are available will fill up quickly. Hoped they plan for food and water for humans and horses available if power goes out for sometime for those that don’t evacuate.

[neigh]

Airports will close down early, so no horses flying in or out. You cannot move horses under USDA quarantine “down the road somewhere” particularly horses that test positive for piro. Tents, temporary stalls, campers etc do not fair well in significant winds.

[fair_judy]

I am astounded at those here who are minimizing the danger in Tryon. https://wlos.com/news/local/people-stranded-by-polk-county-mudslides-describe-harrowing-night

[Marla_100]

@Tackpud

They’re not going to post a plan because that could cause security issues. For the most part, they will be continuing on with the events unless there is thunder or lightning. At the volunteer orientation we were told to prepare for the weather - bring extra clothes and lots of towels…

I really doubt that the outside events will continue as normal unless thunder or lightening appears. Maybe the planners

have not experienced a ‘real hurricane’ where rain comes down in buckets sideways. Valuable horse owners will

not want to jeopardize their horse and rider safety simply to compete as planned. They need to put competitions

on hold for a couple days til the storm passes. If the storm stalls, as some predictions claim, the logistics

could be worse than being planned for.

Also I hope planners are making backup plans for having sufficient water on hand for 500+ horses. You can’t

believe how much water they drink when power is gone for several days even if confined to their stalls.

[fair_judy]

For those looking for a forecast by a seasoned Florida Weatherperson look to Denis Philips page. Denis is a no drama zone. He is predicting as much two feet of rain in the region. With my lifelong experience living in Florida, wind and coastal flooding aren’t HALF the issue. With downed trees in sodden ground you will have loss of electricity. With that loss comes one very significant issue. NO WATER.