THIRD WORLD U$A
A major disaster declaration every two days is "the new normal," FEMA administrator says
Dec 11, 2024
The U.S. faced an unprecedented 179 disasters in 2024, according to FEMA, affecting millions of Americans and wiping out some towns. CBS News' Nicole Sganga spoke with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell about these catastrophes and the dwindling funds to help those affected.
FEMA's Criswell on disinformation after deadly hurricanes
Dec 11, 2024
Deanne Criswell, the administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, says the spread of disinformation about the agency's efforts after Hurricane Helene and Milton was overwhelming. CBS News' Nicole Sganga reports.
Helene caused nearly $1 billion in losses, capping a tough year for NC agriculture
Adam Wagner, The Charlotte Observer
Dec 10, 2024
A member of the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force searches a flood-damaged property with a search canine in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene along the Swannanoa River on Oct. 4, 2024, in Asheville, North Carolina. At least 215 people were killed in six states in the wake of the powerful hurricane which made landfall as a Category 4. President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,000 active duty U.S. soldiers to assist with storm relief efforts in what is now the deadliest U.S. mainland hurricane since Hurricane Katrina. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/TNS)Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/TNS
North Carolina’s $111 billion agricultural sector was already suffering in 2024, and then Helene hit.
A dozen industry representatives told the House Agricultural Committee Tuesday that without significant, quick investment, those impacts could reverberate through the industry for years.
“This year has been challenging. That doesn’t do it justice. It’s been awful for agriculture,” said Steve Troxler, North Carolina’s agricultural commissioner.
Before Helene, North Carolina’s agriculture industry had lost $696 million from a prolonged drought throughout the spring and summer followed by tropical storms and historic rains from an unnamed storm in Southeastern North Carolina.
“It was kind of like taking a house plant that’s been pampered and putting it out in the front yard in the sun and not being able to water it and then drowning it with a great big gulp of water. That’s what happened to agriculture in the state,” Troxler said.
Then, Troxler said, Helene caused another $907.62 million in losses, based on estimates from N.C. State University’s Blake Brown and Mike Walden.
“It’s a disaster,” Troxler sad.
Jerred Nix, an apple farmer from Henderson County’s Edneyville, described watching an orchard he’d been set to inherit from his father wash away in the course of about eight minutes. As he spoke before the committee, Nix showed an aerial photo of his property, with a field covered in dirt.
“I have beach front property in Edneyville right now because that 10 acres has about three feet of sand over top of it,” said Nix, the vice president of Flavor Full Farms.
The General Assembly has passed two Helene relief bills, with additional funds that could be sent to the relief effort via a third bill where the House is expected to take a veto override vote Wednesday. None of those packages have included targeted relief for the state’s agricultural industry.
Troxler urged legislators to custom-fit relief programs for the needs of Western North Carolina, where farmers are more prone to grow Christmas trees and nursery crops that are much less likely to be covered by crop insurance than the corn and soy beans that are more popular in the Coastal plain.
“We can’t afford to sit back and wait. I know we want to see the feds pay everything that they will pay for but having been through this with Florence and other disasters, those programs that they are going to come with are probably not going to fit,” Troxler said.
For example, Troxler said, Christmas tree farmers have lost the on-farm infrastructure like roads and culverts that they need just to be able to reach their crops, much less to bring them off of a mountain.
In one case, a Christmas tree farmer had a 12-acre pasture on a river, Rodney Buchanan, president of the N.C. Christmas Trees Association, told the committee. After floodwaters stripped a portion of the pasture down to the bedrock, that farmer has a seven-acre pasture.
“There is nothing you can do on solid rock for agriculture,” Buchanan said.
David Davis, the N.C. Cooperative Extension’s Yancey County director, said he’s barely left the county since Helene hit on Sept. 27, helping farmers with everything from logistics to arranging for them to receive fence posts to helping talk through their mental health struggles.
“The next few years we’re going to spend a lot of time trying to keep our farmers in business. That’s the task at hand,” Davis said.
In some parts of Yancey County, farms were covered with a foot to six feet of silt. Those places were lucky, Davis said, because that silt had washed off of land upstream, wiping out what he called “prime production land.”
Between 80% and 90% of the county’s best farmland is located on rivers and streams, Davis added. He showed the committee a photo of Cane River, which is typically 12 to 15 feet wide and swelled to between a mile and a mile-and-a-half on Sep. 27.
“We had many farms that have lost sand and silt, and they have nothing to grow in,” Davis said, adding that he lost topsoil in some of the most productive fields on his own 17-acre cabbage and tomato farm.
Even cleaning out rivers and streams in Western North Carolina will cost between $350 million and $500 million, Troxler said. That will likely require at least $100 million in state matching funds, Troxler added.
“If we don’t do that, the next five-inch rain or the next seven-inch rain will put us back where we are right now because the water has no place else to go,” Troxler said.
Opinion
The NC legislature’s disastrous disaster response
The NC legislature’s disastrous disaster response
Rob Schofield
Thu, December 12, 2024
a washed-out farm
Thu, December 12, 2024
a washed-out farm
Leaders in NC's agriculture industry detailed the extensive damage and erosion left in the wake of Helene. (Photo: David Davis, County Extension Director, N.C. Cooperative Extension)
On any list of key governmental functions, natural disaster response is near the top. If public services and structures don’t provide relief and spearhead recovery when disasters strike, communities can literally and permanently fall apart.
And tragically, this appears to be happening in parts of western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Thanks in large part to the slow and woefully inadequate response of state lawmakers, businesses and farms are failing, unemployment and evictions are rising, morale is sinking, and some once vibrant cities and towns are disintegrating as residents simply pack up and leave.
Rather than heeding Gov. Cooper’s call for an aggressive, all-hands-on-deck response that would provide a critical financial lifeline to thousands and spur community hope and optimism, Republican legislative leaders are sticking to their usual shortsighted and cheapskate ways.
The bottom line: The problems in the west are massive and state government can’t solve them all, but by largely turning its back, the legislature has irresponsibly shirked one of its most basic duties.
For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.
South Carolina farmers face Helene's damage after months of drought and falling prices
About 25 percent of the state’s soybean crop has reached maturity, with most of the crop beginning to drop leaves, said Michael Plumblee, a corn and soybean specialist in Blackville.
While the rain will help relieve drought-like conditions, wind made the mature soybeans drop their leaves and could make younger plants bend too close to the ground, making it harder for farmers to harvest them.
The USDA reported South Carolina farmers planted 390,000 acres of soybeans in 2024, slightly less than 2023 when 395,000 acres were planted.
Helene was a most unwelcome guest for farmers who, just months ago, lost specialty crops like melons and saw significantly lower corn yield because of a late-spring to summer drought, Kantrovich said. Still more struggled because geopolitical events such as international trade tensions have spurred commodity prices for grain items to drop while input remains the same.
Hurricane Debby also created flooded conditions late this summer, cutting into production.
Growers with crop insurance should work with their crop insurance company if they've seen heavy losses, while those who have uninsurable crops should get in touch with the USDA Farm Service Agency within their county, Kantrovich said. The USDA Farm Service Agency can also help with emergency loans.
While many farmers had made good assessments in the days following the storm, others remained uncertain. At Swamp Rabbit Café & Grocery in Greenville, the owners were still unsure what the extent of the impact will be on their small business that sources product almost exclusively from local and regional producers.
Mary Walsh, who opened the grocery and café with Jac Oliver 13 years ago, spent Oct. 1 trying to figure out how to restock the store’s shelves after the power had been restored. She also began checking in with some of the hundreds of farmers the store works with.
She hadn’t been able to get in touch with many from the Asheville area.
“We haven’t had time to assess but I know other people are way worse off than we are,” she said.
In the aftermath of Helene, Clemson Extension is offering an Agricultural Impact Assessment form for producers to use to file individual farm and field reports, as well as area reports by extension agents. The assessments help in recovery and aid requests for the state and beyond.
Producers can visit www.clemson.edu/extension/helene.html for more information on how to complete the impact assessment form.
By Macon Atkinson
Report for America corps member matkinson@postandcourier.com
and Lillia Callum-Penso lcallumpenso@postandcourier.com
Oct 2, 2024
A field is flooded after Tropical Storm Debby dumped rain, Aug. 8, 2024, in Dillon. Farmers across South Carolina are just beginning to assess the damage wrought by Tropical Storm Helene.Grace Beahm Alford/Staff
PIEDMONT — Jackson Wood wondered if Helene would be the end of his DarkSpore Mushroom Co.
With no electricity, the owner of the specialty mushroom farm that sells to nearly 20 local restaurants and three farmers markets had been forced to throw away all his fresh product. It was about 700 pounds, or $9,000 worth of sales.
Wood was looking at starting from scratch.
“I’m unsure if we’ll be coming back from this or not, honestly,” Wood said.
Once power comes back he’ll reassess, then start the nearly monthlong process of growing mushrooms again.
Even so, Wood remained grateful.
“Our building is still intact and we’re all OK,” he said Oct. 1. “We have a lot of family members and friends in this industry too that have been affected a lot worse than we have. It’s very unfortunate.”
Wood is one of the multitude of farmers across South Carolina just beginning to assess the damage wrought by Tropical Storm Helene, which packed a punch to the Upstate with flooding rains and winds up to 72 mph. The storm killed at least 36 people across the state and left thousands in damaged homes and without power.
For farmers, the storm destroyed specialty crops like Wood's mushrooms as well as cash crops such as soybeans, cotton and peanuts. Others are dealing with livestock losses due to downed fences and structural damage to feed-storage facilities. The lack of power could be detrimental to poultry producers in particular, as well as farmers who are reliant on wells with electric pumps to water their livestock.
"There's a number of moving parts that we're dealing with right now," said Adam Kantrovich, director of Clemson Cooperative Extension Service's agribusiness team.
Amid intense heat and getting little rain, multiple SC counties face 'severe' drought
The devastation came on the heels of several already disastrous months for South Carolina farmers, who have battled drought, plunging commodity crop prices and previous flooding from Hurricane Debby in August.
All of that means more yearly losses are likely, Clemson extension experts said in a press release.
That includes products like cotton — one of South Carolina's more popular crops.
Farmers planted 225,000 acres of cotton in South Carolina in 2024, up from 210,000 in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Cotton's development varies greatly, said Michael Jones, a cotton specialist at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence. Harvest typically begins in late September in South Carolina, and cotton fiber weight and quality are best the day the boll opens.
Fiber degrades with water produced by storms, so many farmers were waiting to defoliate until after the storm passes.
“Most fields have open bolls at this time, so the storm will be an issue," Jones said in the press release.
High winds blow lint to the ground, and tangled plants make harvest difficult, he added. Wet ground also makes it difficult to use heavy equipment.
Another popular South Carolina offering — soybeans, is expected to take a hit.
A field is flooded after Tropical Storm Debby dumped rain, Aug. 8, 2024, in Dillon. Farmers across South Carolina are just beginning to assess the damage wrought by Tropical Storm Helene.Grace Beahm Alford/Staff
PIEDMONT — Jackson Wood wondered if Helene would be the end of his DarkSpore Mushroom Co.
With no electricity, the owner of the specialty mushroom farm that sells to nearly 20 local restaurants and three farmers markets had been forced to throw away all his fresh product. It was about 700 pounds, or $9,000 worth of sales.
Wood was looking at starting from scratch.
“I’m unsure if we’ll be coming back from this or not, honestly,” Wood said.
Once power comes back he’ll reassess, then start the nearly monthlong process of growing mushrooms again.
Even so, Wood remained grateful.
“Our building is still intact and we’re all OK,” he said Oct. 1. “We have a lot of family members and friends in this industry too that have been affected a lot worse than we have. It’s very unfortunate.”
Wood is one of the multitude of farmers across South Carolina just beginning to assess the damage wrought by Tropical Storm Helene, which packed a punch to the Upstate with flooding rains and winds up to 72 mph. The storm killed at least 36 people across the state and left thousands in damaged homes and without power.
For farmers, the storm destroyed specialty crops like Wood's mushrooms as well as cash crops such as soybeans, cotton and peanuts. Others are dealing with livestock losses due to downed fences and structural damage to feed-storage facilities. The lack of power could be detrimental to poultry producers in particular, as well as farmers who are reliant on wells with electric pumps to water their livestock.
"There's a number of moving parts that we're dealing with right now," said Adam Kantrovich, director of Clemson Cooperative Extension Service's agribusiness team.
Amid intense heat and getting little rain, multiple SC counties face 'severe' drought
The devastation came on the heels of several already disastrous months for South Carolina farmers, who have battled drought, plunging commodity crop prices and previous flooding from Hurricane Debby in August.
All of that means more yearly losses are likely, Clemson extension experts said in a press release.
That includes products like cotton — one of South Carolina's more popular crops.
Farmers planted 225,000 acres of cotton in South Carolina in 2024, up from 210,000 in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Cotton's development varies greatly, said Michael Jones, a cotton specialist at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence. Harvest typically begins in late September in South Carolina, and cotton fiber weight and quality are best the day the boll opens.
Fiber degrades with water produced by storms, so many farmers were waiting to defoliate until after the storm passes.
“Most fields have open bolls at this time, so the storm will be an issue," Jones said in the press release.
High winds blow lint to the ground, and tangled plants make harvest difficult, he added. Wet ground also makes it difficult to use heavy equipment.
Another popular South Carolina offering — soybeans, is expected to take a hit.
4 years after Trump's tariff war, SC farmers able to profit again — from soybeans
About 25 percent of the state’s soybean crop has reached maturity, with most of the crop beginning to drop leaves, said Michael Plumblee, a corn and soybean specialist in Blackville.
While the rain will help relieve drought-like conditions, wind made the mature soybeans drop their leaves and could make younger plants bend too close to the ground, making it harder for farmers to harvest them.
The USDA reported South Carolina farmers planted 390,000 acres of soybeans in 2024, slightly less than 2023 when 395,000 acres were planted.
Helene was a most unwelcome guest for farmers who, just months ago, lost specialty crops like melons and saw significantly lower corn yield because of a late-spring to summer drought, Kantrovich said. Still more struggled because geopolitical events such as international trade tensions have spurred commodity prices for grain items to drop while input remains the same.
Hurricane Debby also created flooded conditions late this summer, cutting into production.
Growers with crop insurance should work with their crop insurance company if they've seen heavy losses, while those who have uninsurable crops should get in touch with the USDA Farm Service Agency within their county, Kantrovich said. The USDA Farm Service Agency can also help with emergency loans.
While many farmers had made good assessments in the days following the storm, others remained uncertain. At Swamp Rabbit Café & Grocery in Greenville, the owners were still unsure what the extent of the impact will be on their small business that sources product almost exclusively from local and regional producers.
Mary Walsh, who opened the grocery and café with Jac Oliver 13 years ago, spent Oct. 1 trying to figure out how to restock the store’s shelves after the power had been restored. She also began checking in with some of the hundreds of farmers the store works with.
She hadn’t been able to get in touch with many from the Asheville area.
“We haven’t had time to assess but I know other people are way worse off than we are,” she said.
In the aftermath of Helene, Clemson Extension is offering an Agricultural Impact Assessment form for producers to use to file individual farm and field reports, as well as area reports by extension agents. The assessments help in recovery and aid requests for the state and beyond.
Producers can visit www.clemson.edu/extension/helene.html for more information on how to complete the impact assessment form.
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