USDA: Get ready for hurricane season By Ciji Taylor
Hurricane season is under way and it lasts until November 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that the 2021 hurricane season will be above normal in the Atlantic and produce 13 to 20 named storms with six to 10 hurricanes and three to five major hur- ricanes. The eastern Pacific hurricane season will produce 12 to 18 named storms, with five to 10 hurricanes and two to five major hurricanes. USDA is here to help you prepare for and recover from hurricane events.
Get Prepared • Develop an Emergency Plan. Ensure your household and employees know your hurricane plan, including meeting points, emergency contact lists, and alternate evac- uation routes in case infrastructure is dam- aged.
• Remove Debris and Secure Large
Objects. Clean out culverts, ditches, and other drainage areas, especially before and during peak hurricane season to reduce water damage. Most injuries to animals, people, or structures during a hurricane are caused by flying objects. To lessen the risk, minimize the presence of equipment, supplies, and de- bris that may become airborne during high winds or encountered in floodwaters. • Secure Important Records and
Documents. Pre- and post-hurricane doc- umentation is extremely important for insur-
ance compensation and recovery assistance. You’ll want to have thorough records of damages and losses sustained on your farm as well as documentation of your cleanup and recovery efforts.
It is critical to document inventory of farm buildings, vehicles, equipment, and livestock before a disaster occurs. Take pho- tos, videos, or make written lists with de- scriptions. Keep copies of this inventory in multiple places: computer, off-site in a safe location, and on a cloud-based server where information is transmitted and saved weekly. • Know Your Insurance Options. Reg- ularly review your insurance policies with your agent to be sure you have adequate cov- erage, including flood insurance, for your fa- cilities, vehicles, farm buildings, crops and livestock. Note, there are limitations on how soon insurance coverage will take effect. Generally, insurance policies will not cover damage if the policy was not in place before a disaster.
For counties within or adjacent to the area of sustained hurricane-force winds, the Risk Management Agency’s (RMA) Hurri- cane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI) covers a portion of your underly- ing crop insurance policy’s deductible. HIP- WI covers 70 crops and is available in counties near the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlan- tic, and Hawaii. • Gather Supplies. Have drinking
water, canned food, a generator, batteries, a flashlight, and fuel available in case you lose
power. For widespread outages, credit and debit cards may not work, so have cash handy. • Access Real-time Emergency Infor-
mation. Download the FEMA app for free on the App Store and Google Play for safety tips on what to do before, during, and after disasters.
Recovery USDA has programs and people to help
you recover.
• Insurance and Risk Protection. If you have risk protection through Federal Crop Insurance, contact your agent within 72 hours of discovering damage and follow up in writing within 15 days. If you have coverage under the Noninsured Crop Dis- aster Assistance Program (NAP), file a No- tice of Loss (Form CCC-576) with Farm Service Agency (FSA) within 15 days of the loss becoming apparent, except for hand-har- vested crops, which should be reported within 72 hours. • Disaster Assistance. FSA has disaster assistance programs for livestock, fruit and vegetable, specialty, and perennial crop pro- ducers who have fewer risk management op- tions.
The Livestock Indemnity Program
(LIP) and Emergency Assistance for Live- stock, Honeybee and Farm-raised Fish Pro- gram (ELAP) reimburse producers for a portion of the value of livestock, poultry and other animal death as a result of certain nat- ural disaster events – like hurricanes – or for loss of grazing acres, feed and forage. • Other Programs. The Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency For- est Restoration Program provide landowners and forest stewards with financial and tech- nical assistance to restore farmland or forests. FSA also offers a variety of loans including emergency loans that are triggered by dis- aster declarations and operating loans to help meet credit needs. Loans can replace essen- tial property, purchase inputs like livestock, equipment, feed and seed, or refinance farm- related debts. USDA’s Natural Resources Conserva- tion Service (NRCS) also provides financial resources through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program.
(Ciji Taylor is a public affairs specialist
with the Farm Production and Conservation Business Center in Fairfield, Illinois.)
14 Goat Rancher | August 2021
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