Link: http://www.margsanimals.com

This is one of the bridges over a water way. Totally destroyed.

In 1989, I lived in Charleston, SC, and I had about 30 horses boarding with me and my own horses, plus about five cats and three dogs. So here comes Hurricane Hugo.

So my advice to anyone that lives on the coast anywhere and it looks like there might be a possibility of a Hurricane coming to visit you,  and you have animals, the first thing you want to do is to find a place to take your animals to safety and be sure it is far enough away so you will be safe.  If you have horses, you will have to find a place that your horses will be safe. I was very lucky that I had a lot of friends in the horse business, so I was able to find a place where I could put all those horses.  I will admit that we only went three hours away for Hurricane Hugo and the Hurricane actually came to where we were staying and did a lot of damage but nothing like it had done in Charleston.

I took the cats and dogs with me too.  From experience, when there is a hurricane going on, most motels are very lenient about letting you keep the dogs and cats in a room. You might have to pay an extra fee for doing that but at that point, who cares.  It is also good to call and make reservations way ahead of time because you can always cancel them.  There will be so many people traveling, that sometimes places fill up. Be sure to take enough food for them for at least three or four days so they won't have to have big changes in their food.

If you have horses or cats and dogs, you really should do your best to get you and your animals out of town. Hurricanes can do a lot of damage.  Many people stayed in Charleston during Hugo thinking they would protect their property, and they said they would never do it again, it was so bad. We left a couple of horses and some cats because we just didn't have room to take them, and one of the horses got hurt but not too bad. The cats disappeared but we finally found them.  So that is the big reason to plan ahead. Make sure you have enough cages for the cats and enough people driving, so there is room for them all to go. It is a very frantic time and some good planning way ahead of time is very valuable. I was lucky in that my friends came to Charleston with horse trailers to haul the horses.

You just have to be prepared and have places to go. I would welcome anyone that lives on the Southern coast. I am about four hours from Charleston and Myrtle Beach if anyone from those areas is reading this.  Or anywhere in the South on the coastal waters. Just leave me a comment and I will get back to you with phone numbers etc.