How will Outer Banks horses survive Hurricane Erin? Here’s the real story
As Hurricane Erin churns toward the Outer Banks, whipping up big surf and forcing tourists to flee, animal lovers everywhere start fretting about the herds of wild horses munching grass in the storm’s path.
They shouldn’t worry.
The famous “banker” horses of Corolla and Shackleford Banks have weathered powerful storms for 500 years, huddling together against the wind.
And contrary to bogus social media posts with fake AI-generated pictures, they are not being evacuated off the barrier islands inside tractor-trailers.
“The Bankers have survived on these barrier islands for hundreds of years and have successfully weathered countless storms,” said Meg Puckett, director of herd management in Corolla. “It’s a natural part of life for them and has been for many, many generations. We would never round them up and move them ahead of a storm. It’s completely unfeasible and unsafe for a mile-long list of reasons.”
500 years of free roaming
Wild banker horses date to Spanish colonial settlements in the early 1500s, which ultimately did not last but in Corolla’s case left somewhere near 100 mustangs behind.
The nonprofit Corolla Wild Horse Fund cares for the northern herd, while the National Park Service looks after the horses near Cape Lookout.
But neither interferes when it comes to weather.
Banker horses know to seek higher ground, shelter under live oaks and turn their hind portions to the wind.
“The wild horses take care of themselves as they have been doing for centuries,” according to the National Park Service. “After storms, the horses are checked. Sometimes it takes as long as two months to find all the herd members on Shackleford Banks.”
Erin is expected to overwash portions of flood-prone NC 12 along the Outer Banks, and officials there have already evacuated residents and tourists from Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.
In 2019, Hurricane Dorian swept 28 wild horses out to sea from a lesser-known herd on Cedar Island during what forecasters called a “mini-tsunami.”
But in Corolla, the horses have 8,000 acres to roam, much of it maritime forest, and they know how to keep out of harm’s way.
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