Major Disaster Declared for Washington

Federal Disaster Declared in Washington

Washington Severe Windstorm (DR-4242)

The White House has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Washington  in the areas affected by the severe windstorm on August 29, 2015.

Areas that are worst affected by the extreme weather event include Island, Jefferson and Snohomish counties.

Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments, said the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected areas.

Federal Disasters 2015

The federal government has proclaimed 38 Major Disaster Declaration [DR 4205-4242] for a U.S. state/tribal area/territory so far this year. Additionally, the government has issued two Emergency Declarations, EM-3372 and EM-3373, and 33 Fire Management Assistance Declarations, [FM-5084 to FM-5116] for the year to date.

Major Disaster Declarations Since August 2015

• Major Disaster Declared in South Carolina [DR-4241] October 6, 2015
• Major Disaster Declared in California Wildfire [DR-4240]  September 23, 2015
• Major Disaster Declared in Kentucky [DR-4239] August 14, 2015
• Major Disasters Declared in Missouri, W. Virginia, Pine Ridge Reservation, S. Dakota [DR-4236 to DR-4238] August 9, 2015
• Super Typhoon SOUDELOR: Federal disaster declared for Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands [DR-4235] August 6, 2015
• Major Disaster Declared in Iowa [DR-4234] August 3, 2015
• Federal Disaster Declarations
• Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index

State of Disaster Declared for Central Texas Wildfires

Gov. of Texas Declares Disaster In Bastrop County

Texas Governor Abbott has declared a Disaster in Bastrop County, near Austin, after a wildfire consumed nearly 20 square kilometers, destroying dozens of homes and other structures, and forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes.

The Hidden Pines Fire wildfire in Smithville threatens more than 150 homes, as well as dozens of other structures, and was reportedly 25 percent contained as of posting.

Related Links

• Raging Texas Wildfire Destroys Homes, Forces Hundreds of Evacuations October 15, 2015

Drought, Freeze… Kill Crops in 173 Counties across 7 States

Crop Disasters Declared in Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated a total 173 counties and parishes across seven states as crop disaster areas due to drought, freeze, as well as other extreme weather events.

Crop Disaster Areas: Designation # 1
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 11 counties in Arkansas and Oklahoma as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those areas are:

• Arkansas. Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Dallas, Howard, Little River, Ouachita, Polk, Sevier and Union counties
• Oklahoma. McCurtain County.

Crop Disaster Areas: Designation # 2
USDA has designated seven parishes in the State of Louisiana as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought:

• Louisiana. Bienville, Grant, La Salle, Caldwell, Jackson, Natchitoches and Winn parishes.

Crop Disaster Areas: Designation # 3                         7

USDA has designated a total of 68  counties in Michigan and Ohio as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive snow, freeze, frost and prolonged periods of extremely cold temperatures that occurred from Jan. 1, 2015, through June 3, 2015. Those areas are:

• Michigan. Alger, Allegan, Antrim, Arenac, Baraga, Barry, Bay, Benzie, Berrien, Cass, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, St. Clair, Clare, Clinton, Crawford, Delta, Dickinson, Eaton, Genesee, Gladwin, Ingham, Iron, Isabella, Jackson, St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Kalkaska, Kent, Lake, Lapeer, Leelanau, Lenawee, Livingston, Luce, Mackinac, Macomb, Manistee, Marquette, Mason, Mecosta, Menominee, Midland, Missaukee, Monroe, Montcalm, Montmorency, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oakland, Oceana, Osceola, Oscoda, Otsego, Ottawa, Roscommon, Saginaw, Sanilac, Schoolcraft, Shiawassee, Grand, Travers,e Tuscola, Van Buren,Washtenaw, Wayne  and Wexford counties.
• Ohio. Lucas County.

Crop Disaster Areas: Designation # 4

USDA has designated a total of 37 counties and parishes in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those areas are:

• Mississippi. Amite, Attala, Bolivar, Carroll, Choctaw, Claiborne, Coahoma, Copiah, Franklin, Grenada, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Jefferson, Jefferson-Davis, Lawrence, Leake, Leflore, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Neshoba, Pike, Rankin, Sharkey, Simpson, Sunflower, Tallahatchie,  Walthall, Warren, Washington, Winston and Yazoo counties.
• Arkansas. Chicot County.
• Louisiana. Tensas Parish.

Crop Disaster Areas: Designation # 5

USDA has designated  38 counties in Texas as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those areas are:

• Texas. Austin, Bastrop, Blanco, Brazos, Burnet, Caldwell, Colorado, Dimmitt, Edwards, Fayette, Frio, Gonzales, Grimes, Hays, Hopkins, Houston, Hunt, Kinney, La Salle, Lavaca, Lee, Madison, Maverick, Montgomery, Rains, San Jacinto, Travis Trinity Uvalde, Val Verde, Van Zandt, Walker, Waller, Washington, Webb, Williamson, Wood  and Zavala counties.

Crop Disaster Areas: Designation # 6

USDA has designated 12 counties in Oklahoma and Texas as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those areas are:

• Oklahoma. Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Johnston, Love, Marshall, McCurtain and Pushmataha counties.
• Texas. Grayson, Lamar and Red River counties.

All areas listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Oct. 14, 2015.

Crop Disasters 2015

Beginning January 7, 2015 USDA has declared crop disasters in at least 3,096 counties and county equivalents across 43 States [as well as Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands]: Arizona, Alabama, 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 Hampshire, 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.

Related Links

• Drought Destroys or Damages Crops in Three U.S. States October 8, 2015
• Crop Disasters Declared across Multiple Areas October 1, 2015
• Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index