Hello everyone,
My name is Marian Robinson. I am a director on the Minnesota Horse Council and chair of the MHC Disaster Response Team.
Several weeks ago I was asked to be a volunteer on a large animal evacuation plan for Scott County. There are several people on the planning committee: Chris Weldon is the Emergency Manager in charge of the committee.
I have been gathering resource information and it is obvious that critical part is going to be the hay.
There are severe flood forecasts for Mn., ND, SD, IA, Wi and other states. Our usual sources for hay, mostly in ND, are almost out of hay. We may end up having to buy hay from Canada, but if the flooding is too hard to get around the drivers won't be able to even get to Canada. With a potential shortage of hay looming, it will be important to get in touch with as many saddle clubs and horse people in general to suggest: Get your hay to high ground! If you have hay in lower areas PLEASE get everything to high ground...if you lose your hay to sudden flooding you are going to have a hard time finding more.
The Mn. Horse Council Team will do their best to help out whereever we can.
Do you folks have a plan to evacuate your horses if needed? Please don't wait until the last minute to get one together.
I have already contacted quite a few saddle clubs, most of them in Mn. who have websites and emails, and some in Wisconsin.
Please forward this information to any saddle clubs you know.
You can email me at mariana_1820@yahoo.com if you have any questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Marian Robinson
Mn. Horse Council Response Team