by Mike Curry

With the levees in Bossier City, Louisiana, and surrounding areas threatened by rising storm water, Louisiana Downs took no chances and evacuated approximately 250 horses from the backstretch on Saturday.

Some of the horses were evacuated to Benton and Hurricane Bluff training centers in Benton, Louisiana, and some were returned to their respective farms.

More than 25,000 residents of Bossier City were urged to evacuate the area, which was pounded by a severe storm on Saturday and Sunday that caused flooding and threatened to breech the Red Chute Bayou and Flat River guideline levees.

Flood waters splashed over the top of both levees early Saturday. Thirty members of the National Guard joined Bossier City authorities to work to reinforce the levees throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning. The levees were reported to be stressed but so far have survived the storm.

“For the most part, there has been some issues in North Bossier where the water has seeped over the levees, but the National Guard has been here and local authorities have come in and helped pack sandbags along the levees, and it has held so far,” said Trent McIntosh, director of racing at Louisiana Downs.

“We had 250 horses renting stalls along the backside, and the action we’ve taken is we’ve moved those horses off the property and we’ve actually closed the casino down as of 1 a.m. [Sunday] morning. The whole property is closed. The worst-case scenario is that we end up with a lot of water here, several feet of water across the property. Number one was making sure the horses, horsemen, and employees were safe and don’t have to be a part of this.”

McIntosh said Louisiana Downs acted quickly in the situation and tried to take every precaution for the safety of its horses and horsemen.

“Basically, we evacuated an entire backside in about six hours with 250 horses, horsemen, grooms, and all of their equipment,” McIntosh said.

While the rain has subsided in the area, McIntosh said the track and Bossier City were not out of the woods yet.

“We’re still in a situation where the water has not crested yet, and it’s possible that it may not crest until Wednesday,” he said. “Our levee on our property I can tell you is in good shape. It has been reinforced in the last five days. It has been reinforced with sandbags and such that I can tell you that we are in a good place with it; but what happens north of us along this tributary can impact all of us.”

Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor