Agricultural Disaster Declared in 14 States

138 Counties in 14 states have been declared agricultural disaster areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 138 counties (includes 1 Parish) across 14 states as agricultural disaster areas in 6 separate declarations.

[The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster areas.]

Drought Disaster

USDA has designated 55 counties in five states as agricultural disaster areas due to  damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. Those areas are

• California:  Alameda, El Dorado, Placer, Solano, Alpine, Glenn, Plumas, Sonoma, Amador, Lake, Sacramento, Sutter, Butte, Marin, San Mateo, Tehama, Colusa, Napa, Santa Cruz, Yolo, Contra Costa, Nevada, Sierra, Yuba, Calaveras, Monterey, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Lassen, San Benito, Santa Clara, Trinity, Mendocino, San Francisco, Shasta, Tuolumne and  Mono counties.

• Nevada: Douglas, Carson City and Washoe counties.

• Texas: Camp, Gregg, Marion, Titus, Cass, Harrison, Morris, Upshur, Bowie, Panola, Rusk, Wood, Franklin, Red River and Smith counties.

• Arkansas: Miller County.

• Louisiana: Caddo Parish.

Agricultural Disaster Designations due to the Drought

At least 1,333 counties across 28 states have now been designated agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought so far this year. [The figure includes both the primary and contiguous drought disaster areas. ]

U.S. Drought Disaster Map as of August 21, 2013. At least 1,333 counties, or 42.41% of all U.S. counties*, were designated as agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought, a net rise of 0.41%  since last week. [The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster designations.] Source: USDA. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.

Flood Disaster

USDA has declared 41 counties in three states–Florida, Alabama, Georgia–as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding that occurred June 4 – August 1, 2013. Those counties are

• Florida: Bay, Citrus, Gadsden, Madison, Calhoun, Clay, Liberty, Marion, Putnam, St. Johns, Santa Rosa, Taylor, Alachua, Columbia, Gilchrist, Jackson, Baker, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Bradford, Duval, Holmes, Levy, Nassau, Okaloosa, Suwannee, Union, Walton and Washington counties.
  

• Alabama: Covington, Escambia, Geneva and Houston counties.

• Georgia: Camden, Clinch, Lowndes, Ware, Charlton, Echols and  Seminole counties.

Freeze Disaster

USDA has declared 23 counties in three states–Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma–as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a freeze that occurred April 1 – May 10, 2013. Those counties are

• Kansas: Grant, Meade, Stanton, Haskell, Morton, Stevens, Kearny, Seward, Wichita, Clark, Gray, Logan, Finney, Greeley, Scott, Ford, Hamilton and Wallace counties.

• Colorado: Baca and Prowers counties.

• Oklahoma: Beaver, Cimarron and Texas counties.

Hailstorm Disaster

USDA has declared 9 counties in three states–Montana, Idaho, Wyoming–as agricultural disaster areas due to losses caused by a hailstorm August 1, 2013. Those counties are

• Montana: Gallatin, Broadwater, Jefferson, Madison, Meagher and Park counties.

• Idaho: Fremont County.

• Wyoming: Park and Teton counties.

Disaster Caused by Extreme Cold

USDA has designated 8 counties  in Idaho as a agricultural disaster areas due to losses caused by freezing temperatures that occurred April 14 – May 24, 2013.

Those counties are Gem, Ada, Adams, Boise, Canyon, Payette, Valley and Washington.

Related Links

• U.S. Drought Expands  August 22, 2013
• U.S. Drought Map – August 13, 2013
• Drought Disaster Declared in 37 Counties Across 5 States August 15, 2013
• Agricultural Disaster Declared for Dozens of U.S. Counties August 8, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index

July 2012: Hottest Month on Record for Continental U.S.

Disaster Calendar – 9 August 2012

SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,315 Days Left

[August 9, 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,315 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History…

–

Hi temps and low precipitation intensified drought 2012, covering  about 2/3 of the U.S., as deadly wildfires burned millions of acres

July average temperature for contiguous U.S. climbed to 77.6°F, 3.3°F above the 20th century average, making it the hottest July and the hottest month on record for the country, reported NOAA. “The warm July temperatures contributed to a record-warm first seven months of the year and the warmest 12-month period the nation has experienced since recordkeeping began in 1895.”

“The August 2011-July 2012 period was the warmest 12-month period of any 12-months on record for the contiguous U.S., narrowly surpassing the record broken last month for the July 2011-June 2012 period by 0.07°F. The nationally averaged temperature of 56.1°F was 3.3°F above the long term average. Except Washington, which was near average, every state across the contiguous U.S. had warmer than average temperatures for the period.”

• The previous warmest July was Dust Bowl summer of 1936 when the average U.S. temperature was 77.4°F.
• Precipitation in continental U.S. averaged 2.57, 0.19 inches below average.
• Virginia experienced its warmest July, with a statewide temperature 4.0°F above average.
• Record heat also contributed to the warmest ever January-to-July period.
• U.S. temperatures have now broken the hottest-12-months record 4 times in as many months (see chart below).
• The U.S. Climate Extremes Index (USCEI) soared to a record-large 46 percent (more than twice the average value) during the January-July period, beating the previous record large CEI of 42 percent which occurred in 1934.

Year-to-date temperature Chart, by month, for 2012 (red), compared to the other 117 years on record for the contiguous U.S., with the five ultimately warmest years (orange) and five ultimately coolest years (blue) noted. Source: NCDC

The ten warmest 12-month periods recorded in the U.S. Temperatures have now broken the hottest-12-months record 4 times in as many months.  Source: NCDC

Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

U.S. Drought Disaster 2012

About a quarter (24.14%) of the Continental U.S. is now in ‘Extreme’ or ‘Exceptional’ drought (D3 – D4), a rise of about 2 percent since July 31, and nearly a half (46.01%) of the country is experiencing ‘Severe’ to ‘Exceptional’ drought levels (D2 – D4), according to data released by the US Drought Monitor.

U.S. Drought Map. Comparison maps for July 31 and August 7, 2012. Source: US Drought Monitor

• New Mexico. USDA has designated eight counties in New Mexico as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought.

• Nebraska. USDA has designated 38 counties in Nebraska as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. The disaster declaration extends to the following counties in bordering states
  • Iowa: 3 counties
  • Kansas: 2 counties
  • South Dakota: 3 counties

• Mississippi. USDA has designated 6 counties in Mississippi as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. The disaster declaration extends to the following counties in bordering states
  • Arkansas: 2 counties

• Oklahoma. USDA has designated 20 counties in Oklahoma as  agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. The disaster declaration extends to the following counties in bordering states
  • Kansas:  Cherokee County.
  • Missouri: 2 counties.

Oklahoma Drought Map

Oklahoma Drought Maps for July 31 and August 7, 2012. Source: US Drought Monitor.

• South Dakota. USDA has designated 6 counties in South Dakota as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. The disaster declaration extends to the following counties in bordering states
  • Iowa: Lyon County.
  • Minnesota: 2 counties.

• Ohio. USDA has designated 4 counties in Ohio as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. The disaster declaration extends to the following counties in bordering states
  • Michigan: Hillsdale County.
  • Indiana: 2 counties.

•  Arkansas. USDA has designated 6 counties in Arkansas as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought.

• Illinois. USDA has designated six  counties in Illinois as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. The disaster declaration extends to the following counties in bordering states
  • Wisconsin: 2 counties.

• Iowa. USDA has designated ten counties in Iowa as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. The disaster declaration extends to the following counties in bordering states
  • Minnesota: 2 counties.
  • Nebraska: 2 counties.
  • S. Dakota: 3 counties.

Iowa Drought Maps for July 31 and August 7, 2012. Source: US Drought Monitor. The areas covered by extreme or exceptional drought levels in Iowa have more than doubled from 30.74 percent last week to 69.14 percent on August 7.  Iowa is the country’s top corn and soybean producer.

• Minnesota. USDA has designated 4 counties in Minnesota as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. The disaster declaration extends to the following counties in bordering states
  • Iowa: Lyon County
  • South Dakota: Two counties

• Kentucky. USDA has designated 9 counties in Kentucky as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. The disaster declaration extends to the following counties in bordering states
  • Indiana: Perry County.

• Kansas. USDA has designated 21 counties in Kansas, a key farm state,  as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. The disaster declaration extends to the following counties in bordering states
  • Missouri: 2 counties.
  • Nebraska: 5  counties.
  • Oklahoma: 2 counties.

Kansas Drought Map

Kansas Drought Maps for July 31 and August 7, 2012. Source: US Drought Monitor.

U.S. Corn Condition

Map of the Agricultural Weather Assessments for U.S. Corn Conditions for the week ending August 4, 2012. Source: USDA

Europe. Watch this space!

• Manila, Philippines.  Authorities in the Philippines have appealed for “more medicines, blankets, mats and, more importantly, dry clothes” to help more than two million people displaced or severely affected by floods in and around Manila, as the death toll mounted.
  • many evacuation centers are  unable to provide warm meals for the growing numbers displaced, AFP reported Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman as saying. “Most local government units do a community kitchen, but the volume of evacuees is so big they have been overwhelmed,” she said.

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar