BRUNSWICK COUNTY — Citing increased flooding exacerbated by nearby residential development, Paws Place Dog Rescue is seeking funding to build a dedicated storm shelter.
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The nonprofit, no-kill rescue and shelter has been operating in Brunswick County since 1999 and recently launched a fundraising campaign for the construction of a purpose-built “shelter sanctuary.”
The shelter is designed to offer a safe and dry environment for their canine rescues, staff volunteers, and essential equipment during flooding events. Fundraising continues through August, with the campaign already achieving over $85,000; its goal is to hit $150,000.
Paws Place currently operates out of a 7,000-square-foot facility in Winnabow off of George II Highway. The dog rescue has faced multiple flooding events causing undue stress on volunteers and dogs, resulting in disruptive evacuations and straining staff and resources.
“We do have an attic, we could have tried to load some of the dogs up there, but the staff on site wasn’t equipped to try to get crates up there,” Executive Director Lee VanOrmer recalled struggles during a previous flood event. “They were looking at options, you know, setting up tables and maybe putting crates on top of tables … I’m not sure it would have been a viable solution.”
The two-story storm shelter will be located next to the current shelter and will be 1,800 square feet, with space for dogs, staff, supplies, and equipment. During a storm event, staff would transfer the animals from its main facility onto the second floor to safely wait out a storm. Plans include a mini split air-conditioning unit, a generator for backup power, and space for their work van.
VanOrmer said Paws Place had plans for a storm shelter since 2017 when the current facility was built. The rescue started the project by pouring a cement foundation but ran out of funding. Since, VanOrmer said storms and subsequent flooding have ravaged the property.
In particular, the nonprofit suffered extensive flood damage to their facility after Hurricane Florence hit the region in 2018, about a year after the main facility was built. Furnishings, a washer and dryer, and kennel and office supplies were completely destroyed.
Florence brought torrential rainfall, dropping nearly 30 inches of water over four days. This extreme rainfall led to the catastrophic failure of several dams in Brunswick County, most notably in Boiling Spring Lakes, sending a surge of water to areas like Paws Place.
“It was absolute panic,” Van Ormer stated. “When Florence came through, all of a sudden the water just came.”
The kennel building was inundated with 3 feet of water, requiring intervention from the National Guard to help evacuate all the dogs. Animals were crated and transported on large trucks, and the rescue operated temporarily out of a gas station up the road until conditions were safe. All dogs were evacuated safely.
Still, VanOrmer said it was extremely stressful and not as simple as just moving the dogs off-site.
“A number of our dogs are on medications, all the medications are on site, all of their food,” VanOrmer said. “Everything is at the kennel, so to suddenly have to try to pack up and leave means not only are we just packing up dogs, we’ve got to pack up their food, their medicine, their leashes, their harnesses, all of their rabies tags. You know, everything that goes with owning a dog.”
VanOrmer said while it’s easier to plan ahead of hurricanes, even average storms are now concerning. For instance, Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 arrived last September with little warning and dumped 20 inches of rain in Brunswick County — leaving roads collapsed and people stranded on highways.
With PTC 8, VanOrmer said water didn’t invade the facility, but reached up to the main doors. Flooding was so bad on the entrance road, two volunteers at the facility were unable to leave.
“They were trapped on-site and had to keep watching the water rising and we really didn’t have a plan,” VanOrmer said. “We actually used dog food as sandbags to keep water out of the building.”
VanOrmer said if Paws Place had the storm shelter then, the situation would have been a lot less stressful on dogs and staff members, who could move to the second floor.
VanOrmer said increased residential developments in the surrounding area, such as Saltgrass Landing, has added to frequent flooding. With less trees and vegetation available to absorb the water, normal rainfall events become worrisome.
“We just don’t have a place to go and there’s so much building going on around us,” she said. “What once was a manageable downpour, is now a flooding event for us.”
Saltgrass Landing Community, located south of Paws Place, is an 18-acre D.R. Horton neighborhood of 85 homes, some still under construction. The residential community was initially approved by the Brunswick County Planning Board in 2022 yet is planned to grow larger. The plans include 264 single-dwelling homes built on 134 acres at an average density of 1.9 units/acre.
Development creates more impervious surfaces like roads and roofs, which stop rainwater from soaking into the ground. This lack of natural absorption means more water runs off quickly, overwhelming drainage and increasing the risk of flooding.
According to the developer’s 2022 proposal to the county for Saltgrass Landing, the stormwater management system utilizes several retention ponds designed to handle a 100-year flood event. This means the system is built to manage the volume of water expected during a flood that has a 1% annual chance of occurring.
According to the National Weather Service, both PTC 8 and Florence far exceeded the 100-year flood threshold; PTC 8 a 200-year flood event and Florence a 500-year flood event.
“We expressed our concerns to the local government about the fact that storm water is going to be an issue,” VanOrmer said. “But we get the standard, ‘Ooh, we’ve done the storm water studies and we have a drainage plan to accommodate it.’”
VanOrmer stated the new facility will make the shelter’s function easier on staff: “It would really give us all a significant peace of mind to have that built before this year’s storms come.”
Paws Place adopts out 125 dogs annually — or around 10 per month. The rescue and their nearly 100 volunteers also provide medical and rehabilitation services for sick and injured dogs.
To learn more about the storm shelter fundraiser or adopting a dog, click here.
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