Crop Disasters Declared in 10 U.S. States

Drought and deluge, excessive heat and high wind kill crops in dozens of counties across 10 states

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared crop disasters in 118 counties across 10 states due to losses and damages caused by extreme weather events.  The disaster designations are in the states of Virginia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Delaware and Connecticut.

Disaster Areas: Designation #1 –  Drought 

USDA has designated a total of 19 counties in Connecticut and three neighboring states as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by drought that occurred from April 1, 2015, and continues. Those counties are:

• Connecticut. Fairfield, Litchfield, Hartford, Middlesex, New Haven, New London Tolland and Windham.
• Massachusetts. Berkshire, Hampden and Worcester
• New York. Dutchess, Nassau, Putnam, Suffolk and Westchester
• Rhode Island. Kent, Providence and Washington

Disaster Areas: Designation #2 –  Excessive rain and flooding

USDA has designated a total of 50 counties in North Carolina and two neighboring states as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding that occurred from Sept. 22, 2015, through Oct. 4, 2015. Those counties are:

• North Carolina. Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Cabarrus, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Franklin, Gates, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Martin, Mecklenburg, Moore, Nash, Northampton, Orange, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Sampson, Scotland, Stanly, Union, Vance and Warren
• South Carolina. Chesterfield and Lancaster
• Virginia. Brunswick, Danville, Greensville, Halifax, Mecklenburg, Pittsylvania, Southampton and Suffolk

Multiple Crop Disasters in New Jersey and Neighboring States

Disaster Areas: Designation # 3 –  Excessive heat and drought

USDA has designated a total of 22 counties in New Jersey and neighboring states as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive heat and drought conditions that occurred from April 1, 2015, through Sept. 29, 2015. Those counties are:

• New Jersey. Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren
• New York. Orange and Richmond
• Pennsylvania. Bucks, Monroe, Philadelphia and Pike

Disaster Areas: Designation # 4 – Excessive rain, flash flooding, high winds and lightning

USDA has designated a total of 14 counties in New Jersey and neighboring states as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain, flash flooding, high winds and lightning that occurred from May 28, 2015, through July 15, 2015. Those counties are:

• New Jersey.  Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester,  Ocean and Salem
• Delaware. Kent, New Castle and Sussex
• Pennsylvania. Delaware and Philadelphia

Disaster Areas: Designation # 5  Excessive heat and drought

USDA has designated a total of 13 counties in New Jersey and neighboring states as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive heat and drought conditions that occurred from July 16, 2015, through Sept. 29, 2015. Those counties are Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.

• New Jersey. Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean and Salem
• Delaware. Kent, New Castle and Sussex
• Pennsylvania. Delaware and Philadelphia

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Nov. 4, 2015.

Crop Disasters 2015

Beginning January 7, 2015 USDA has declared crop disasters in at least 3,618 counties and county equivalents across 46 States [as well as Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands]: Those states are Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

• About 99 percent of the 2015 crop disaster designations have been 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

• More Crops Destroyed by EWE in Nine U.S. States October 29, 2015
• Drought, Deluge Destroy Crops in 12 States October 22, 2015
• Drought, Freeze… Kill Crops in 173 Counties across 7 States October 16, 2015
• 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