Extreme Weather Events destroy crops in 191 counties across 10 States
Drought, excessive heat, frost, freeze, high wind, excessive snow, hail, lightning, excessive rain and tornado have destroyed at least 30 percent of the crops in 191 counties across 10 states—Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina, reported USDA.
Disaster Designations #1
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated a total of 22 counties in Texas as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those counties are:
Texas (22). Anderson, Angelina, Bell, Brazos, Burleson, Cherokee, Falls, Freestone, Grimes, Henderson, Hill, Houston, Leon, Limestone, Madison, McLennan, Milam, Navarro, Robertson, Trinity, Walker and Washington counties.
Disaster Designations #2
USDA has designated a total of 63 counties in three states—South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina—as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive heat and drought that occurred from May 1, 2015, and continues. Those counties are:
South Carolina (45). Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Cherokee, Chester, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Florence, Georgetown, Greenville, Greenwood, Hampton, Horry, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Lee, Lexington, Marion, Marlboro, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Orangeburg, Pickens, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg, Sumter, Union, Williamsburg and York counties.
Georgia (4). Burke, Columbia, Richmond and Screven counties.
North Carolina (14). Anson, Brunswick, Cleveland, Columbus, Gaston, Henderson, Mecklenburg, Polk, Richmond, Robeson, Rutherford, Scotland, Transylvania and Union counties.
Disaster Designations #3
USDA has designated the following 51 counties in New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain, high winds, hail, lightning and a tornado that occurred from May 1, 2015, through July 14, 2015. Those areas are:
New York (44). Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Essex, Franklin, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Oswego, Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates counties.
Pennsylvania (4). Erie, Susquehanna, Warren and Wayne counties.
Vermont (3). Addison, Chittenden and Grand Isle counties.
Disaster Designations #4
USDA has designated the following 39 counties in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by frost, freeze and excessive snow that occurred from Jan. 1, 2015, through May 24, 2015. Those areas are:
New York (33). Albany, Allegany, Bronx, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Greene, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Nassau, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Oswego, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Schoharie, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Sullivan, Tompkins, Ulster, Wayne, Westchester and Wyoming counties.
Connecticut (2). Fairfield and Litchfield counties.
Massachusetts (1). Berkshire County.
New Jersey (1). Bergen County.
Vermont (2). McKean and Warren counties.
Disaster Designations #5
USDA has designated a total of 16 counties in New York, Massachusetts and Vermont as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by drought that occurred from June 1, 2015, and continues.
New York (12). Albany, Columbia, Essex, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, and Washington counties.
Massachusetts (1). Berkshire County.
Vermont (3). Addison, Bennington and Rutland counties.
All of the counties listed above were designated crop disaster areas by USDA on September 9, 2015.
U.S. Drought Monitor – Weekly Comparison: CONUS
| Week | None | D0-D4 | D1-D4 | D2-D4 | D3-D4 | D4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-09-08 | 49.63 | 50.37 | 31.67 | 19.62 | 10.92 | 3.00 |
| 2015-09-01 | 54.21 | 45.79 | 30.43 | 18.72 | 10.71 | 3.00 |
Total U.S.
| Week | None | D0-D4 | D1-D4 | D2-D4 | D3-D4 | D4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-09-08 | 48.00 | 52.00 | 28.14 | 16.44 | 9.14 | 2.51 |
| 2015-09-01 | 50.12 | 49.88 | 28.40 | 15.69 | 8.97 | 2.51 |
Crop Disasters 2015
Beginning January 7, 2015 USDA has declared crop disasters in at least 2,574 counties, county equivalents and municipalities, across 41 States [as well as Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands]: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, Wyoming.
About 99 percent of the 2015 crop disaster designations are due to drought so far this year.
Crop Disasters 2014
In 2014, USDA declared crop disasters in at least 2,904 counties across 44 states. Most of the designations were due to drought.
Those states were:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan. Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. [FIRE-EARTH has documented all of the above listings. See blog content.]
Notes:
i. USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop.
ii. The counties designated as agricultural disaster areas, as listed above, include both primary and contiguous disaster areas.
iii. Some counties may have been designated as crop disaster areas more than once due to multiple disasters.
iv. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.
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