Farm Disaster Preparedness

Seven steps to preparing yourself and your horses for emergencies

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

In the Pacific Northwest, many types of natural disasters are possible, including wildfire, arctic blizzards, major earthquakes, volcanic activity and flooding. Recent winter blizzards with record snowfall followed by warm weather with record rainfall produced massive flooding and accompanying landslides within our region. Many of us were impacted, and in some cases overwhelmed, by this weather. On-farm disaster preparedness can go a long way to help minimize disastrous results for you and your horses. 

During an emergency, the time you have to evacuate your horses will be limited. Having an effective emergency plan will help you move your horses to safety more quickly. If you are unprepared or wait until the last minute to evacuate, emergency management officials may tell you to leave your horses behind. Once you leave your property, you have no way of knowing how long you will be kept out of the area. To avoid this situation, emergency officials recommend the following steps to help you become better organized in the event of a disaster... (click here to read the full article in our digital edition)