Effingham Co. couple loses equine business, home to floodwaters

EFFINGHAM, Ga. (WTOC) - A couple in Effingham County lost their equine business and home over the weekend after floodwaters inundated their property.

The owners of FCS Equestrian Center in Rincon say Effingham Parkway construction caused the catastrophic flooding.

SEE: Recent flooding causes concern for Effingham Co. residents

Flooding Friday night left a devastating impact on the FCS Equestrian Center property.

The water first came in through Justyne Albright’s home. It also washed out roads on the property and went through pastures, leaving standing water still to this day.

Justyne Albright and her husband Dave opened the center in 2018.

The two, along with several dogs, cats and horses, live on the property.

Two years into calling the land home, the Georgia Department of Transportation acquired a portion of it through eminent domain to build Effingham Parkway.

As construction on the road continued, flooding on their property progressively got worse. But the Albrights never expected the kind of destruction that came this past weekend.

Several inches of rain fell Friday night, causing water from the construction site to overflow and flood their property. Horses even had to be evacuated through knee-high waters.

Justyne says poor drainage culverts are, in part to blame.

“If GDOT does not rectify the flooding issues, there’s no way we can stay here. I mean the amount of hoof issues, skin issues, breathing issues that our horses have been going through during this whole construction process, we’ve lost a few horses because of it. We’ve had to sell horses from our program because of it. It’s just a lot,” said Albright.

The flooding also left the Albrights’ home uninhabitable.

Despite the damage, Justyne says the community rallied together to help—doing everything from donating totes and dog items to taking in some of their horses for safekeeping.

For more ways to help FCS Equestrian Center, click here.

We’ve reached out to GDOT and the county for comment.

See Effingham County’s statement below:

GDOT sent us the following statement:

The Effingham Parkway Project is a collaborative initiative between Effingham County and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). This project involves creating a new county roadway sponsored by Effingham County, which utilizes their roadway design and acquired right-of-way (ROW), with Georgia DOT’s assistance in funding and managing the project’s construction contract.

Georgia Department of Transportation