“The roads into the Keys are basically tide-dependent at this point,” described John Haven, Veterinary Emergency Treatment Service (VETS) branch director, from the State Agricultural Response Team (SART) incident command post that is currently set up in Kissimmee, Fla. to offer aid after Hurricane Wilma. “When the tides are down, you can drive…when they’re up, you can’t. I heard there was a fair amount of flooding…quite a few of the trees snapped like toothpicks.”

Officials at the SART center had successfully reached by phone more than 68 veterinary practices in the hurricane-affected counties today, and six teams drove out to assess storm-affected areas. As of this evening (Oct. 25), Haven only knew of one Wilma-related equine casualty, and he’d heard about more safe horses than he had of horses in harm’s way. It’s still early, however. More teams will move into areas known to have pockets of horses tomorrow.

Haven is the director of the University of Florida (UF) College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), but he’s been wearing the hat of VETS branch director since Wilma hit yesterday (Oct. 24). He and UF’s Cynda Crawford, DVM, PhD, leader of the VETS companion animal section, are helping Florida agriculture and veterinary officials assess veterinary needs following Hurricane Wilma.

Dana Zimmel, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, ABVP, assistant professor and extension veterinarian at the UF CVM, has been helping educate veterinarians and horse owners on hurricane preparedness. “The Keys got hammered the worst. I don’t know how many, if any, horses were out there,” she said. “That area–Miami through West Palm Beach–hasn’t had that kind of wind since Hurricane Andrew. That was reported on the news quite frequently here, and I haven’t heard we have massive horse injuries down there like we had in Hurricane Andrew