Agricultural Disaster Declared for 204 Counties

204 Counties across 10 states declared agricultural disaster areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 204 counties across 10 states—Georgia, Alabama, Florida, The Carolinas,  Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky and Tennessee—as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding in two separate declarations.

First Disaster Declaration

USDA has designated 148 counties across six states—Georgia, Alabama, Florida, The Carolinas and Tennessee—as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain that began April 1, 2013, and continuing.

List of Disaster Areas – Excessive Rain

• Georgia: Appling, Clinch, Grady, Macon, Treutlen, Turner, Twiggs, Union, Atkinson, Coffee, Greene, Madison, Walton, Ware, Washington, Wayne, Bacon, Colquitt, Gwinnett, Miller, Wheeler, Wilcox, Wilkinson, Baker, Cook, Hancock, Mitchell, Bibb, Dooly, Henry, Monroe, Baldwin, Crawford, Hart, Montgomery, Bulloch, Dougherty, Houston, Murray, Banks, Crisp, Irwin, Morgan, Butts, Early, Lee, Pickens, Barrow, Decatur, Jackson, Newton, Calhoun, Evans, Liberty, Pulaski, Ben Hill, De Kalb, Jasper, Oconee, Camden, Forsyth, Lincoln, Rabun, Berrien, Echols, Jeff Davis, Oglethorpe, Candler, Fulton, Long, Richmond, Bleckley, Effingham, Jefferson, Peach, Charlton, Glynn, Lumpkin, Schley, Brantley, Elbert, Jenkins, Pierce, Clayton, Gordon, McDuffie, Stephens, Brooks, Emanuel, Johnson, Putnam, Dawson, Habersham, McIntosh, Sumter, Bryan, Fannin, Jones, Rockdale, Dodge, Hall, Marion, Burke, Franklin, Lanier, Screven, Talbot, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Toombs, Chatham, Gilmer, Laurens, Seminole, Upson, Warren, White, Wilkes, Clarke, Glascock, Lowndes, Taylor, Worth, Telfair, Thomas, Tift and Towns counties.

• Alabama: Houston County.

• Florida: Baker, Gadsden, Jackson, Leon, Columbia, Hamilton, Jefferson and Madison counties.
  

• North Carolina: Cherokee and Clay counties.
  

• South Carolina: Abbeville, Anderson, Jasper, Aiken, Barnwell, McCormick, Allendale, Hampton and Oconee counties.

• Tennessee: Polk County.

Second disaster Declaration

USDA has designated 56 counties across five states—Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky and Tennessee—as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rainfall and flooding that occurred July 15 – August 19, 2013.

List of Disaster Areas – Excessive Rainfall and Flooding

• Missouri: Butler, Gasconade, New Madrid, Stoddard, Camden, Laclede, Osage, Texas, Cole, Maries, Pemiscot, Vernon, Dunklin, Miller, Pulaski, Webster, Barton, Cape Girardeau, Dent, Mississippi, St. Clair, Bates, Carter, Douglas, Moniteau, Scott, Benton, Cedar, Franklin, Montgomery, Shannon, Bollinger, Christian, Greene, Morgan, Warren, Boone, Crawford, Hickory, Phelps Callaway, Dallas, Howell, Ripley, Wright and Wayne counties.

• Arkansas: Clay, Craighead, Greene and Mississippi counties.

• Kansas: Bourbon, Crawford and Linn counties.

• Kentucky: Fulton County.

• Tennessee: Dyer and Lake counties.

All counties listed above were designated as agricultural disaster areas on September 25, 2013.

“Secretary Vilsack also reminds producers that Congress has not funded the five disaster assistance programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill. These are SURE; the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP); the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP); the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP); and the Tree Assistance Program (TAP). Production losses due to disasters occurring after Sept. 30, 2011, are not eligible for disaster program coverage,” said USDA.

Notes:
1. The total number of counties designated as agricultural disaster areas includes both primary and contiguous disaster areas.
2. USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop.
3. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.

Related Links

• Agricultural Disaster Declared for 194 Counties in 13 States September 20, 2013
• Agricultural Disaster Declared for 138 counties in 14 States
• Drought 2013
• Agricultural Disasters Index

Agricultural Disaster Declared for 194 Counties in 13 States

Drought and Deluge Prompt Disaster Declarations in Multiple Regions across U.S.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 194 counties in 13 states across 5 regions as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused either by drought, or by one or more of hail, severe freezing, excessive snow, excessive rain and flooding.

• As of September 18, 2013, at least 1,345 counties and parishes, or 42.8% of all U.S. counties and county equivalents, were designated as agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought.
  
• Since September 11, 2013 a total of 332 counties have been designated as Agricultural Disaster Areas.

[Notes: 1. The total number of counties designated as agricultural disaster areas includes both primary and contiguous disaster areas. 2. The USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is a 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop. 3. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.]

Drought Disaster

USDA has designated a total of eight counties in Idaho and Montana as Agricultural Disaster Areas.

• Idaho: Clearwater, Lewis, Idaho, Latah, Nez Perce and Shoshone counties.
• Montana: Mineral and Missoula counties.

Excessive Rain and Flooding Disasters Beginning January 1, 2013

USDA has designated 102 counties in five states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee—as Agricultural Disaster Areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding that began January 1, 2013, and continues.

• Alabama (64 Counties):  Autauga, Cleburne, Geneva, Macon, Baldwin, Coosa, Greene, Madison, Barbour, Covington, Hale, Marengo, Blount, Crenshaw, Henry, Mobile, Bullock, Cullman, Houston, Monroe, Calhoun, Dale, Jackson, Montgomery, Cherokee, Dallas, Jefferson, Morgan, Chilton, Elmore, Lamar, Perry, Choctaw, Etowah, Lauderdale, Pickens, Clarke, Fayette, Lowndes, Pike, Russell, St. Clair, Shelby, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington, Wilcox, Bibb, Coffee, Escambia, Marion, Butler, Colbert, Lawrence, Marshall, Chambers, Conecuh, Lee, Randolph, Clay, De Kalb, Limestone and Winston counties.

• Florida (5 Counties):  Escambia, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa and Walton.

• Georgia (13 Counties): Carroll, Clay, Floyd, Polk, Chattahoochee, Dade, Haralson, Quitman, Chattooga, Early , Muscogee, Seminole and Stewart.

• Mississippi (11 Counties): Clarke, Jackson, Lowndes, Tishomingo, George, Kemper, Monroe, Wayne, Greene, Lauderdale and Noxubee.

• Tennessee (7 Counties): Franklin, Hardin, Lincoln, Wayne, Giles, Lawrence and Marion counties.
  

Excessive Rain and Flooding Disasters Beginning May 1, 2013

USDA has designated 54 counties in three states—The Carolinas and Tennessee—as Agricultural Disaster Areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding that began May 1, 2013, and continues.

• North Carolina (41 Counties): Avery, Cleveland, Henderson, Rutherford, Brunswick, Columbus, Madison, Transylvania, Buncombe, Durham, Orange, Watauga, Wilson, Alamance, Chatham, Jackson, New Hanover, Ashe, Edgecombe, Johnston, Pender, Bladen, Gaston, Lincoln, Burke, Granville, McDowell, Pitt, Caldwell, Greene, Mitchell, Polk, Caswell, Haywood, Nash, Person, Robeson, Wake, Wayne, Wilkes and Yancey counties.

• South Carolina (8 Counties): Cherokee, Greenville, Oconee, Spartanburg, Dillon, Horry, Pickens and York counties.

• Tennessee (5 Counties): Carter, Cocke, Greene, Johnson and Unicoi.

Disasters caused by combined effects of severe freezing and excessive snow followed by excessive rainfall and flooding that occurred January 1 – August 2, 2013

USDA has designated 22 counties in Minnesota and Iowa as Agricultural Disaster Areas due to the combined effects of severe freezing and excessive snow followed by excessive rainfall and flooding that occurred January 1 – August 2, 2013.

• Minnesota (18 Counties): Dodge, Koochiching, Mower, Steele, Freeborn, Lake of the Woods, Olmsted, Beltrami, Goodhue, Roseau, Waseca, Faribault, Itasca, St. Louis, Winona, Fillmore, Rice and Wabasha counties.
  

• Iowa (4 Counties): Howard, Mitchell, Winnebago and Worth.

Hail Disaster on August 6, 2013

USDA has designated 8 counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin as Agricultural Disaster Areas due to damages and losses caused by hail that occurred August 6, 2013.

• Minnesota: Dakota, Goodhue, Ramsey, Scott, Hennepi, Rice and Washington counties.
  

• Wisconsin: Pierce County.

Related Links

• Agricultural Disaster Declared for 138 counties in 14 States
• Drought 2013
• Agricultural Disasters Index

State of Emergency Declared in Washington

Washington declares a state of emergency amid deadly ice storm

A deadly ice storm swept across the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW) following record snowfalls.

Disaster Calendar 2012 – January 20

[January 20, 2012]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,517 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Washington, USA.    Washington’s governor declared a state of emergency following the deadly “Snowmageddon” and ice storm, which swept across PNW killing at least 2 people and cutting power to hundreds of thousands of people in the region.
  • At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, a new daily snowfall record of 6.8 inches was set, shattering the previous record of 2.9 inches set in 1954, reports said.
  • “Authorities called for voluntary evacuations of the town of Mapleton, Oregon, which has about 1,000 residents, and some nearby areas because expected flooding,” a report said.

U.S. Weather Warnings Map. Source: NWS

U.S. Composite Satellite Image  (Source: SSEC/Wisc-Uni)

Other Global Disasters

• Nevada, USA. Gov. Brian Sandoval has declared a state of emergency after a massive wildfire, fanned by 82-mph winds, burnt thousands of acres near Reno, killing at least 1 person, destroying more than 2 dozen homes and forcing the authorities to evacuate over 10,000 people.
• Oregon, USA.Extensive flooding has forced the Governor to  declare a state of emergency in Marion, Coos, Benton, and Lincoln counties.
  • More counties will likely be added as conditions worsen, he said.
  • The city of Salem has activated its Emergency Operations Center due to flooding.
  • The combined impact of snowmelt and torrential rains have flooded communities across Oregon.
  • “The return of severe winter weather has overwhelmed communities across our state,” the Governor said. “My priority is to ensure the safety of all Oregonians and their properties. With this emergency declaration, I have directed all available state resources to help affected counties in any way possible.”
  • Benton County, Or.Officials have declared Benton County a disaster area. “Flooding and landslides beginning January 18 in the area due to heavy rains and melting snow from a recent snow storm have created high water conditions,” the officials said in a statement. “A preliminary assessment shows damage to roads and homes and closed roads resulting in isolated areas of the county.”
    • “Rising creeks flooded much of Marion and Linn counties, including the communities of Turner and Scio, where hundreds of residents were evacuated from their homes and businesses,” said a report.
• Hawaii.  Hawaii County in Hawaii has been declared a Primary Natural Disaster Area by USDA.
  • The disaster declaration follows losses caused by drought that occurred from January 1, 2011, and continues.

• Tennessee, USA. USDA has declared 13 counties in Tennessee as agricultural disaster areas.
  • The disaster declaration follows losses caused by drought and excessive heat that occurred June 1 – October 20, 2011.
  • Primary Disaster Areas:  Henry and Williamson Counties.
  • Contiguous Disaster Areas: Benton, Cheatham, Dickson, Marshall, Carroll, Davidson, Hickman, Maury, Rutherford, Stewart and Weakley counties
• Kentucky, USA.The following counties in the neighboring state of Kentucky were also added to the disaster list because they’re contiguous.
  • Calloway and Graves counties.
• Tennessee, USA.  Seven counties in Tennessee have been declared agricultural Disaster areas due to losses caused by excessive rain, high winds, hail and flooding that occurred June 21 – December 5, 2011.
  • Primary Disaster Areas:  Claiborne and Union counties.
  • Contiguous Disaster Areas: Anderson, Campbell, Grainger, Hancock and Knox counties.
• Kentucky, USA. The following counties in the neighboring state of Kentucky were also added to the disaster list because they’re contiguous: Not Specified.
• Virginia, USA. The following counties in the neighboring state of Virginia were also added to the disaster list because they’re contiguous: Lee County.
• Mozambique. Flooding in Mozambique has left at least 5 people dead and made hundreds of others homeless.
  • Tropical depression DANDO, the first to strike Southern Mozambique in nearly 30 years, brought heavy rain and strong winds with gusts of up to 120km, dumping more than 250mm of precipitation over much of the south.
  • The winds and flooding have damaged thousands of homes schools and businesses in Gaza Province, and hundreds more in the capital Maputo.
  • Hundreds of people have lost their home and thousands more have been evacuated.
  • The Mozambican authorities have issued a Red Alert for the southern part of the country, which covers the capital Maputo, Matola city, Many districts in Maputo province, and the coastal areas in Gaza and Inhambane provinces, the National Meteorological Institute (INAM) said.
• USA. Violent sex crimes committed by active U.S. Army soldiers have nearly doubled in the past five years, according to a US Army report.
  • The crimes are blamed, in part, on the trauma of war.
  • Of the 2,811 violent felonies reported in 2011, about a half were violent felony sex crimes, and most were committed in the United States.
  • List of the top five violent felony offenses committed by soldiers in 2011:
    1. Aggravated assault
    2. Rape
    3. Aggravated sexual assault
    4. Forcible sodomy
    5. Child pornography.
  • “One violent sex crime was committed by a soldier every six hours and 40 minutes in 2011.”

Billion-dollar disasters of 2011 [Updated]

Extreme drought, heat waves, floods, unprecedented tornado outbreaks, hurricanes, wildfires and winter storms set  a record 14 weather and climate disasters in 2011 each causing  at least $1 billion in damages.

1. Groundhog Day blizzard (January 29-February 3, 2011)
2. Tornadoes  in Midwest/Southeast (April 4-5, 2011)
3. Tornadoes in Southeast/Midwest  (April 8-11, 2011)
4. Tornadoes in Midwest/Southeast (April 14-16, 2011)
5. Tornadoes in Southeast/Ohio Valley/Midwest (April 25-28, 2011)
6. Tornadoes in Midwest/Southeast (May 22-27, 2011)
7. Tornadoes and severe weather in Midwest/Southeast (June 18-22, 2011)
8. Drought and Heatwave in Southern Plains/Southwest (Spring-Fall, 2011)
9. Mississippi River flooding (Spring-Summer, 2011)
10. Severe weather in the Rockies and Midwest (July 10-14, 2011)  added Jan. 19, 2012
11. Flooding in the Upper Midwest (Summer 2011)
12. Hurricane Irene (August 20-29, 2011)
13. Wildfires in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona  (Spring-Fall 2011)
14. Tropical Storm Lee (Early September, 2011)  added Jan. 19, 2012)

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

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

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

Florida’s Endangered Manatees Faced Another Deadly Year

453 dead manatees recovered in Florida waters

Cold water raises the Manatee death toll total for the third consecutive year.

Disaster Calendar 2012 – January 5

[January 5, 2012]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,532 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Florida, USA.“Cold stress’’ killed over a quarter of the 453 dead manatees recovered in Florida waters, state wildlife biologists said.
  • It was the third consecutive year that cold water drove up the annual death total, the second-highest on record.
  • At least 88 of the sea cows were killed by boats.
  • Brevard county topped the list with 100 manatee deaths including 28 from cold stress and 7 from boats.
  • In 2010, a record 766 carcasses were found.
  • In 2009, 429 dead manatees were recovered.

Other Global Disasters

• Mindanao Island, Philippines.Disaster visits  Mindanao Island again. A massive landslide in Pantukan town in Compostella Valley, 900 km south of Manila, has killed at least 25 people.
  • More than 100 people are still buried at or near a gold mine.
  • “Thousands of poor Filipinos dig and pan for gold in the area, hoping to strike it rich despite the dangers of largely unregulated mining. The tunnels are often unstable and landslides and accidents are common.”
  • Typhoon WASHI killed at least 1,257 people in Mindanao, and left an unknown number of people missing last month.
• Montana, USA. Blackfeet Tribe have declared a state of emergency in Browning area.
  • Two major fires have forced evacuations and highway closures in Browning area, a report said.
• South Sudan.  The state of Jonglei in South Sudan has been declared a  disaster area following inter-tribal fighting in the past few weeks.
  • “Fighting erupted in late December when the 6,000 armed men from the Lou-Nuer ethnic group attacked Pibor county, the home of the Murle community, in the latest of a series of raids between the two groups,” a report said.About 50,000 members of the Murle community have been displaced and hundreds of others have been killed.
  • More than 1,000 people have killed in cattle raids, abductions and counter attacks in the last seven months, the report said.
• Tennessee, USA. Forty-three counties in the state of Tennessee have been declared agricultural disaster areas, USDA said.
  • The disaster designations are due to losses caused by drought and excessive heat that occurred from May 1, 2011, through Oct. 31, 2011.

Tennessee counties designated as Primary Disaster Areas. Source: USDA

Tennessee counties declared as Contiguous Disaster Areas. Source: USDA

• The following counties in Kentucky, Mississippi and North Carolina were also designated as disaster areas because they are contiguous.
  • Kentucky: Allen, McCreary, Monroe and Wayne counties.
  • Mississippi: Benton and Marshall counties.
  • North Carolina: Cherokee, Graham and Swain

• Texas, USA.131 Counties in the Lone Star State have been declared agricultural disaster areas, USDA reported.
  • The disaster designations are due to losses caused by drought, excessive heat, high winds and wildfires that occurred during the period of Jan. 1, 2011, and continues.

Texas Primary Disaster Counties. Source: USDA

Texas counties declared as Contiguous Disaster Areas. Source: USDA

• Several counties in New Mexico and Oklahoma were also designated as disaster areas because they are contiguous.
  • New Mexico: Lea County.
  • Oklahoma: Bryan, Choctaw, Jefferson, Love, McCurtain and Marshall counties.

Global Disaster Links

• Typhoon WASHI Legacy Lingers
• Philippines declares national calamity
• Typhoon WASHI: 1,650 dead or missing

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

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters: 2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

Deadly epidemic kills 109 in Brazil

Meningitis epidemic prompts tourists to cancel reservations at Bahia’s Costa do Sauipe resort

At least 109 people, most of whom contracted cerebrospinal meningitis, have died in Brazil’s Bahia state since January, the authorities said.

Disaster Calendar 2011 – December 10

[December 10, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,558 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Bahia, Brazil. At least 109 people, most of whom contracted cerebrospinal meningitis, have died in Brazil’s Bahia state since January, the authorities have said.
• At least 1,670 cases of bacterial meningitis, the most serious form of the disease, have been reported in the state of Bahia so far this year, AFP reported officials as saying.
• Dozens of tourists fearing the epidemic have canceled their reservations at Bahia’s Costa do Sauipe resort.
• Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, and is usually caused by caused by infection with microorganisms, especially viruses and  bacteria.
• Meningitis is potentially life-threatening and has a high mortality rate if untreated.
• Typically, Brazil has a bacterial meningitis rate of about 46 per 100,000 annually.
• Bahia is one of Brazil’s 26 states, located in the country’s northeastern Atlantic coast (population: >14million).
• The largest epidemic ever recorded in history plagued the sub-Saharan Africa in 1996–1997, causing over 250,000 cases and claiming 25,000 lives, a mortality rate of 10 percent.

Other Global Disasters

• Alabama, USA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared twenty-six counties in Alabama as agricultural disaster areas due to losses caused by excessive rain, flooding, flash flooding, hail, high winds and tornadoes that occurred April 1-30, 2011.
• Six counties were designated as Primary Disaster areas: Blount, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Monroe and Morgan counties.
• Twenty other counties were also declared disaster areas because they’re contiguous:  Baldwin, Conecuh, Fayette, Lamar, Butler, Cullman, Franklin, Lauderdale, Clarke, Escambia, Jackson, Limestone, Colbert, Etowah, Jefferson, Marshall, St. Clair, Walker, Wilcox and Winston counties.
• The following bordering counties in Mississippi and Tennessee were also declared as  disaster areas because they’re contiguous:
• Mississippi: Itawamba and Monroe counties.
• Tennessee: Franklin and Lincoln counties.

Global Disaster Links

• 2011 Much More Disastrous
• 2010 Disasters [Includes Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters: 2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

WARNING: About 20 percent of the world population could perish [randomly] by 2016