On April 27, more than 300 tornadoes swept through Alabama, destroying farms and homes in their paths. Now, members of Alabama’s equine community are working with farmers and cattle ranchers to help those hardest hit recover from disaster.

"At one point during the storm, as many as 130 tornadoes were on the ground at one time," said Nathan Jaeger, director of beef, equine, hay, and forage for the Alabama Farmers Federation. "This was a Category 1 disaster and there have only been two others in U.S. history: 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina."

Jaeger said urban areas bore the brunt of the storms’ damage and that the majority of farms located in the state were spared from being directly hit by the tornadoes. Even so, he said, a total of 200 head of livestock were lost in the storms, including 30 horses.

"The horses that were put down due to (storm-related) injuries were humanely euthanized by assistant state veterinarians who were stationed around the state through the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industry," Jaeger said. "Their carcasses were disposed of in an environmentally sound way