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Federal Disaster Area Declared Due To 2009’s Heavy Rain
December 26, 2009
Farmers in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida and every Alabama county are eligible for federal disaster assistance due to the heavy rains and floods that damaged crops during 2009.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 66 Alabama counties as primary natural disaster areas due to excessive rain, flooding and flash flooding that occurred throughout 2009.
The designation covers every county in the Alabama with the exception of Coosa County; however, Coosa County also will be eligible for natural disaster assistance since it is named as a contiguous county for this disaster. Farmers in every county that borders Alabama — including Escambia and Santa Rosa in Florida — also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are adjacent to the declared disaster area.
“President Obama and I understand these conditions caused severe damage to the area and serious harm to farms in Alabama and we want to help,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This action will provide help to hundreds of farmers who suffered significant production losses to a wide variety of crops, including field crops, pasture, forage, vegetables, fruit and nuts.”
Qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses.
FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.
Pictured top: Wet cotton sags to the ground in a Walnut Hill field following rains from Tropical Storm Ida. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
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