Release No. 0325.03

Alisa Harrison (202) 720-4623
Julie Quick (202) 720-4623 

USDA OFFERS ARRAY OF ASSISTANCE FOLLOWING DISASTERS
Keeping Food Safe is Top Priority 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2003 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture helps in many ways before and after natural disasters such as hurricanes, but perhaps the most immediate is to ensure that people have a safe and adequate supply of food. 

“USDA has a number of programs and a wealth of information available to help people during emergencies,” said Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman. “A variety of services are available including our Meat and Poultry Hotline, programs to restore the environment and food assistance programs.” 

Food Safety

USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service offers recommendations in advance of the upcoming hurricane in an effort to help minimize the potential for foodborne illness as well as advice on food safety precautions to follow after the disaster. See the FSIS website at http://www.fsis.usda.gov  for a checklist of appropriate measures.

For additional information on food safety during an emergency, call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854); for the hearing-impaired (TTY) 1-800-256-7072. 

The Hotline is staffed by food safety experts weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time. Food safety recordings can be heard 24 hours a day using a touch-tone phone. The media may contact the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at (301) 504-6258. Information is also available from the FSIS Web site: http://www.fsis.usda.gov 

Food Assistance

USDA helps in many ways following a disaster with the most immediate is by ensuring that people have enough to eat. There are many concerns following a hurricane, earthquake, civil disturbance, flood or other disaster, but none is more important than providing food in areas where people may find themselves suddenly, and often critically, in need.
Through its Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA assists in three ways: 

• Provides commodity foods for shelters and other mass feeding sites. 
• Distributes commodity food packages directly to households in need. 
• Issues emergency food stamps. 

As part of the Federal Emergency Response Plan, FNS’s Food Distribution Division has the primary responsibility of supplying food to disaster relief organizations such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army for mass feeding or household distribution. Disaster organizations request food assistance through State agencies that run USDA’s nutrition assistance programs. 

Additional information on disaster food assistance can be found at http://www.fns.usda.gov/disasters/disaster.htm .

Watershed Protection

The Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program helps protect lives and property threatened by natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires. The program is administered by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, which provides technical and financial assistance to preserve life and property threatened by excessive erosion and flooding. EWP provides funding to local project sponsors for work that includes clearing debris from clogged waterways, restoring vegetation and stabilizing stream banks. Additional information can be found at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/EWP/index.html .

Farmer/Rancher Assistance

When the President or the Secretary of Agriculture designates counties as primary disaster areas, these designations make all qualified farm operators eligible for low-interest emergency (EM) loans from the 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 the 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 a variety of programs available, in addition to the emergency loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity. 

USDA has also made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including the Emergency Conservation Program. This program provides emergency funding for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by wind erosion, floods, hurricanes, or other natural disasters, and for carrying out emergency water conservation measures during periods of severe drought. The natural disaster must have created new conservation problems. 

Programs such as Federal Crop Insurance and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program also help protect farmers from losses due to natural disasters.

Interested farmers may contact their local FSA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at: http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov .

Housing Assistance:
USDA Rural Development makes every effort to help borrowers who are victims of a disaster to recover from the financial hardship, to minimize the potential delinquency or liquidation, and to protect the Government’s interest. In those cases, Rural Development can consider the servicing options available to assist the affected borrower; i.e., repayment moratorium. Additional information is also available online at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/ 

Rural Business Programs:
Even though Rural Development business programs normally do not have disaster assistance authority, numerous Business Programs can be of assistance in providing financial relief to small businesses as a result of natural disasters. For additional information on business assistance visit: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/busp/bpdir.htm 

Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants

These grants are designed for rural communities with a significant decline in quantity or quality of drinking water. Population is required to not exceed 10,000 and median household incomes of 100 percent of a State’s non-metropolitan median household income. Grants may be made for 100 percent of project costs. The maximum grant is $500,000 when a significant decline in quantity, imminent source shortage or quality of water occurred within 2 years, or $75,000 to make emergency repairs and replacement of facilities on existing systems.

#

Back to the top