Educational Farm: A Brand-New Storm Shelter for the Animals

In the event of a hurricane, Noah’s Ark will be able to shelter not only horses, but also chickens, birds, and goats.

?On the hills above Gouverneur, the sound of a drill disturbs the peace and quiet of Noah’s Ark. Here, the structure isn’t made of wood but rather of concrete, capable of withstanding hurricanes. With a birdcage in hand, Sylvie Grévin works alongside Fredy to assemble shelves. The president of the Ferme des Îles association gives the treasurer instructions on how to complete the final touches on this hurricane shelter at the educational farm. “We have a lot of birds, but also chickens, ducks, and goats—we need to be able to shelter them in the event of a cyclone,” explains the president. “Unless a chicken escapes, we’ll be able to protect 100% of the animals. ” This obviously includes the horses, for whom this facility was built in the first place. “The condition for keeping the ponies was having a hurricane shelter,” she explains. “There was no way we were going to go through what we went through with Irma again.”

Protecting All the Animals

The shelter has been part of the educational farm since the project’s inception. “ It was the first building to go up and the last to be completed,” adds Grégory Henry Houëlche, the site manager. Nicknamed Noah’s Ark, the shelter consists of twenty stalls capable of housing the seven ponies, the mare, and the farm’s other animals. The building connects directly to the care center and the animal caretaker’s apartment so that it can operate as a self-contained unit in the event of isolation due to a hurricane. “There’s no way we’d leave them all alone—the animal caretaker and someone from the association will be there,” explains Sylvie. In 2023, a test using makeshift stalls was conducted during a hurricane warning. “They were fairly calm, but there wasn’t much wind,” Sylvie admits. The idea, of course, is not to lock the animals up at the slightest gust of wind. “It depends on the category of the cyclone, but also on the type of cyclone—whether it’s heavy with rain or high winds,” explains the president. “Since a lot of vegetation has been planted on the farm, things will start flying around quickly, and anything that flies can be dangerous for them.” ” In any case, the animals will have a brand-new shelter if needed. Although, of course, Sylvie hopes she won’t have to use it.

Caption: Sylvie Grévin, president of the Ferme des Îles association, is flanked by site manager Grégory Henry Houëlche and Marie Miossec