Hurricane

Assistance for Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton

USDA offers a suite of programs to help your ag operation recover from recent hurricanes. The Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) are ready to assist impacted producers and adding flexibilities to disaster assistance programs to streamline the recovery process. Programs can help with debris removal, land rehabilitation, and animal, crop and tree losses.

Recovery on Your Operation

USDA offers a suite of disaster assistance programs that can help with recovery, including:

Protect Your Operation

If you do not have crop insurance or Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program coverage, consider these risk management options to help protect your operation.

• Crop Insurance: Use the Agent Locator to find a crop insurance agent near you. USDA’s Risk Management Agency works closely with Approved Insurance Providers, who sell and service the policies that producers purchase, to ensure efficient loss adjustment and prompt claims payments.
  • For counties within or adjacent to the area of sustained hurricane-force winds, Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI) covers a portion of your underlying crop insurance policy’s deductible. HIP-WI covers 70 crops and is available in counties near the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, and Hawaii.
  • Additionally, there is a Tropical Storm Option, part of HIP-WI, to cover named tropical storms. HIP-WI was expanded in 2023 to include this option.
• Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP): Contact your USDA Service Center to obtain Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program coverage.

Prepare Your Operation

Take precautions to prepare and protect your family and operation.

• Develop an Emergency Plan - Ensure your household and employees know your hurricane plan, including meeting points, emergency contact lists, and alternate evacuation routes in case infrastructure is damaged.
• Remove Debris and Secure Large Objects - Clean out culverts, ditches, and other drainage areas, especially before and during peak hurricane season to reduce water damage. Most injuries to animals, people, or structures during a hurricane are caused by flying objects. To lessen the risk, minimize the presence of equipment, supplies, and debris that may become airborne during high winds or encountered in floodwaters.
• Secure Important Records and Documents - Pre- and post-hurricane documentation is extremely important for insurance compensation and recovery assistance. You’ll want to have thorough records of damages and losses sustained on your farm as well as documentation of your cleanup and recovery efforts.

It is critical to document inventory of farm buildings, vehicles, equipment, and livestock before a disaster occurs. Take photos, videos, or make written lists with descriptions. Keep copies of this inventory in multiple places: computer, off-site in a safe location, and on a cloud-based server where information is transmitted and saved weekly.

• Know Your Insurance Options - Regularly review your insurance policies with your agent to be sure you have adequate coverage, including flood insurance, for your facilities, vehicles, farm buildings, crops and livestock. Note, there are limitations on how soon insurance coverage will take effect. Generally, insurance policies will not cover damage if the policy was not in place before a disaster.
• Gather Supplies - Have drinking water, canned food, a generator, batteries, a flashlight, and fuel available in case you lose power. For widespread outages, credit and debit cards may not work, so have cash handy.
• Access Real-time Emergency Information - Download the FEMA app for free on the App Store and Google Play for safety tips on what to do before, during, and after disasters. Subscribe to our text message and emails service to receive real-time, local operational and recovery information for the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Risk Management Agency.

Reporting Losses/Submitting Applications

If your operation was impacted by a natural disaster and you have an interest in participating in an available disaster assistance program, you should report losses and damages to FSA and/or your Approved Insurance Provider for crop insurance claims.

Timelines to file notices of loss and submit applications differ by program or coverage:

• Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-raised Fish Program: File with your Service Center no later than the annual program payment application date, which is January 30 the year following the program year in which the loss occurred.
• Livestock Indemnity Program: File with your Service Center no later than the annual program payment application date, which is 60 calendar days following the program year in which the loss occurred.
• Tree Assistance Program: File a program application with your Service Center within 90 days.
• Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program: File notice of loss with your Service Center within 15 days, except for hand-harvested crops, which should be filed within 72 hours. NAP forage producers with the intended use of grazing who elect to use independent assessments or other approved alternative loss percentage methods to establish their loss are no longer required to file Notice of Loss with FSA.
• Crop Insurance: Contact your agent within 72 hours of discovering damage and follow up in writing within 15 days.

Resources

Translated Resources

For disaster resources in languages other than English, visit our Translated Resources page. Additionally, you can find a language interpreter at your local USDA Service Center.