Weather-Related Events
and Disaster Assistance
Firestorm 2007 Resources
Reporting and Record Keeping
- The San Diego County Department of Agriculture requests, if you've experienced loss or damage to your property due to the fires, that you fill out a Loss Report Form here.This information will be important in determining how much aid flows to San Diego County.
- In the event that funding becomes available for certain disaster relief programs, it is important that you document all expenses, losses and costs associated with cleanup and rebuilding through photos, receipts and journal entries. Agencies will need to see documented proof of expenses.
- If you've experienced losses, it is recommended that you contact the Farm Service Agency office in Indio (760) 347-3675 ext.2, and register with them. This will be helpful in the event that federal grants become available.
- Although it is unclear whether any funds will flow through FEMA to agriculture, it has been suggested by government officials that growers register with FEMA as well. You can contact FEMA at (800) 621-3362.
Insurance
- Growers who suffered fire damage and have crop insurance are advised to contact their agent immediately and have an adjustor sign off on the losses before doing any work to clean up the damage.
Loans
- The lending institution American Ag Credit offers competitive financing for agribusiness. They have an office in Escondido and can be reached at (760) 746-5055. They also have a website, www.agloan.com.
- The Farm Service Agency has available Emergency Low Interest Loans. You can read details here. If you think you qualify for these loans, call the FSA's Indio office at (760) 347-3675 ext. 2.
- The Governor's State of Emergency declaration for San Diego County has activated the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency's Small Business Disaster Assistance Loan Guarantee Program. This loan is available to farmers, ranchers, growers, and ag-related businesses. California Southern Small Business Development Corporation, a non-profit corporation, contracts with the state to guarantee loans through traditional lenders. If you're going to apply for a loan through your bank to cover fire related losses, call the office listed below. You can read more about the Small Business Disaster Assistance Loan Guarantee Program here. Local Contact: California Southern Small Business Development Corporation, 600 B Street, Suite 2450, San Diego, CA 92101. Their phone number is (619) 232-7771. The president of California Southern is Mike McCraw. His cell phone number is (619) 884-0116.
Pending Programs (check this website often to see if funding is available)
- These programs are offered by the United States Department of Agriculture. The local contact for these programs, if and when funds become available, will be the Farm Service Agency office in Indio (760) 347-3675 ext. 2, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service office in Escondido (760) 745-2061.
- FSA Emergency Conservation Program. (Now funded. See Funded Relief Programs.) ECP can help rebuild productivity of the land and restore conservation structures including irrigation systems, stockwater facilities and fences.
- Tree Assistance Program. TAP can replace lost trees.
- Emergency Watershed Protection Program. EWP can help stabilize hills to prevent mudslides, revegetate land to reduce erosion and remove debris, preventing further damage to property.
- NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program. (Now funded. See Funded Relief Programs.) EQIP can help with the cost to protect and improve soil, water, air, plant and animal resources.
- Livestock Indemnity Program. LIP compensates livestock producers for livestock losses that resulted from natural disasters.
- Livestock Compensation Program. LCP compensates livestock producers for feed losses on non-irrigated grazing land resulting from natural disasters.
Funded Relief Programs
- NRCS and FSA have received a combined $6.6 million to fund two relief programs. See details here.
Tax & Permit Relief
- The county has waived all building permit fees for rebuilding structures damaged or destroyed by the wildfires. See details here.
- Also, the County Tax Assessor has made Property Tax Relief available to all owners whose property was damaged or destroyed in the fires. See details here.
- Internal Revenue Service.
- California Franchise Tax Board.
Disaster Assistance Centers
- The state is opening five Disaster Assistance Centers throughout the county to help those affected by the fire begin rebuilding. These centers will be a one stop source for disaster relief services. There will be representatives from county and state agencies providing information on how to replace records destroyed by fire, file insurance claims, and apply for assistance and housing. Operating hours are: Monday - Friday 8a.m. to 7p.m., Saturday 8a.m. to 4p.m., and Sunday 9a.m. to 2p.m..
- FEMA has made available a Fire Disaster Assistance Packet for victims of the wildfires. It details steps taken and phone calls you should make in order to begin rebuilding.
Resource Conservation Technical Assistance
- The Natural Resource Conservation Service (760) 745-2061 provides technical assistance for erosion control, revegetation, fencing, irrigation systems, and other issues related to natural resource conservation.
- Mission Resource Conservation District provides information on erosion control and can help estimate property repair and replacement costs. Their phone number is (760) 728-1332.
Cleanup
- The County Department of Environmental Health has published numerous tips on safe and effective cleanup when returning to a burned area. You can read their suggestions here.
- Removal of residential debris in the unincorporated county.
- Free erosion control supplies in the unincorporated county.
U.C. Cooperative Extension
- The Farm and Home Advisors Office University of California Cooperative Extension has published Best Management Practices for soil conservation after a wildfire. A comprehensive article can be downloaded here.
- Gary Bender, a Farm Advisor with the County of San Diego U.C. Cooperative Extension office, has published an article titled Recovery from Fire Damage in Avocado Groves. You can read it here.
EMERGENCY CONSERVATION FUNDING FOR AG PRODUCERS
Two USDA Agencies Direct $6.6 Million to Assist Farmers in Wake of Fires
Riverside, Calif., November 16, 2007- The Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Farm Service Agency, two agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are announcing that they will make available $6.6 million to help farmers and ranchers recovering from southern California fires in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Ventura Counties.
"There is a lot of good work underway helping the people and landscape of southern California," says Lincoln "Ed" Burton, State Conservationist for the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service. "But this assistance is to fill a special void of helping agricultural producers as best as we can within our authorities to help."
"We want this to be as customer friendly as possible," says John Smythe, State Executive Director of the Farm Services Agency in California. "Of course our respective programs have different opportunities and limitations, but we pledge to work together to make the assistance to the producer as effective as possible."
From the NRCS, $4.6 million is being made available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to protect newly exposed soil from severe erosion and to install agriculture infrastructure such as irrigation systems, needed to maintain the crops and other vegetative covers essential to protecting the hillsides.
Through FSA, approximately $2 million will be made available for debris removal from orchards and to replace livestock fencing, through the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP). Both programs will offer a 75 percent cost share.
Avocado, citrus groves and nurseries have been especially hard hit from these recent fires, according to Dave Heilig, Assistant State Conservationist for the NRCS in Riverside. "Farmers have reported loss of irrigation systems, soil protecting mulches, cover crops, and the crops themselves", Heilig said. "Our intent is to help these farmers get the most important conservation measures back on the land to save soil and water which in turn can help save their crops. The groves of trees and other crops that have been affected by fire are in critical need of reliable irrigation", he added.
Only those with agricultural production history on lands damaged by fire are eligible for ECP or for this special EQIP program, and other eligibility criteria must be met.
"John and I toured groves and nurseries devastated by the fires and we saw the frustration and sadness in the faces of those who saw their hard work melted away in the fire," says Burton. "But we also saw their hope and determination to pick up the pieces and go forward. We hope this assistance will help producers start anew and keep agriculture viable in southern California."
Applicants approved and funded will be responsible for implementing their EQIP conservation recovery plans. All applications will be screened for eligibility and proposed projects must show environmental benefits over existing conditions.
In San Diego County alone, about 100 farmers are expected to sign up for assistance, according to NRCS District Conservationist Cori Calvert Butler who oversees NRCS programs in San Diego County. "We're moving fast to mobilize a team of conservation planners and engineers to get EQIP or ECP ready for new applicants," she reports.
For more information about the programs or to submit an application, visit the NRCS website at www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov, the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov, or any of the offices listed below. Applications for either program will be accepted at any of the following offices:
Escondido NRCS Field Office332 S. Juniper St., Ste 110 Escondido, CA 92025
(760) 745-2061 Lancaster NRCS Field Office
44811 N. Date Ave., Suite G, Lancaster, CA 93534
(661) 945-2604 Somis NRCS Field Office
3380 Somis Rd. Somis, CA 93066
(805) 386-4489 Riverside/San Diego FSA Office
82-901 Bliss Ave.
Indio, CA 92201-4355
760-347-3675
Fires and Santa Ana Winds - OCTOBER 2007
At Governor’s Request, White House Declares Emergency and Major Disaster for Southern California Wildfire Areas
Responding to requests by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- which were in turn reinforced by requests from California’s Congressional delegation and other California leaders -- President Bush declared a state of emergency for portions of southern California affected by wildfires on Tuesday, October 23, 2007, and shortly thereafter he declared a "major disaster" for the State of California.
On October 21, the governor had proclaimed a state of emergency for the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura, the areas most affected by the wildfires.
After the State received the FEMA declaration of a federal-level state of emergency on October 23, the Governor wrote to the President, stating, "I have determined that this disaster is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments and that supplementary federal assistance is necessary." As such, the request asked for "Individual Assistance (including the Individual and Households Program, Disaster Unemployment Assistance, Crisis Counseling and Legal Services); Public Assistance; and Small Business Administration Disaster Loans. I am also requesting, as appropriate, assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Highway Administration and the Natural Resources Conservation Services; implementation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Emergency Loan Program; and any other Stafford Act programs as appropriate for the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura. I am also requesting that Hazard Mitigation Grant funding be made available on a statewide basis."
On October 24 complied with the request to declare a major disaster for the state, opening the gate to a wide array of federal assistance for victims of the fires. On October 25, the President toured portions of the affected areas.
Also on October 25, the U.S. Department of Labor approved California's request for a $50 million grant that will help hire over 3,000 workers in temporary disaster assistance jobs in the areas affected by the wildfires. The $50 million National Emergency Grant was approved today, with $16.7 million released initially. These funds will create up to 3,125 temporary jobs in the sectors that are assisting in cleanup and rebuilding, local emergency transportation services and humanitarian purposes in areas affected by the fires. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor to the California Employment Development Department, and will provide immediate assistance to the seven most affected counties. Governor Schwarzenegger also directed the Small Business Disaster Assistance Loan Guarantee Program to be activated to guarantee $7 million in loans for farms, agriculture-related businesses and businesses in communities that suffered damage or significant economic loss as a result of the wildfires.
From the California Capitol Hill Bulletin
Wind and fire damage reports will be updated as information becomes available. For information on tree recovery, see the link, below.
Disaster Assistance:
The "U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007" signed into law by President Bush earlier this year authorized three ad hoc disaster programs to provide benefits to farmers and ranchers who suffered losses caused by natural disasters in recent years. The Crop Disaster Program provides benefits to growers who suffered quantity and quality losses to 2005, 2006, or 2007 crops from natural disasters if the crop was planted before February 28, 2007. Eligible growers can sign up for the Crop Disaster Program beginning October 15, 2007. For sign-up information, contact your local Farm Service Agency.
See: FARM SERVICE AGENCY PRESS RELEASE, OCTOBER 2007.
See: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA.php?=nr_20070824_rel_0225.html for the full press release.
See: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/cdp_flyer07.pdf for sign-up notice.
Freeze-Related Cultural Information:
Growers who have suffered freeze damage trees or fruit loss should consider:
- Contacting their handler for a complete grove evaluation, advice on what and when to harvest, and information on market conditions;
- Contacting their claims adjuster, if they have federal crop insurance and requesting a survey of the damage sustained;
- Contacting their county agriculture commissioner's office to report losses, including acreage affected and percent damage or loss. Consider taking pictures of tree and fruit damage to support claims;
- Contacting their local USDA Farm Service Agency for information about disaster assistance programs. A locator map can be found by clicking here.
Other resources:
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UC Avocado Rehabilitation of Freeze-Damaged Citrus and Avocado Trees
2006/07 Crop Yield Post Freeze
Tree Loss Calculator (Scroll down and click on "Avocado Trees" to download calculator)
Tree Recovery After the December 1990 Freeze
Arpaia, Mary Lu, Witney, Guy W.
California Avocado Society 1991 Yearbook 75:63-70
Tree Recovery After the December 1990 Freeze
Guy Witney Farm Advisor, University of Cooperative Extension, 21150 Box Springs Road, Moreno Valley, CA 92557
Mary Lu Arpaia Extension Specialist, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, Riverside 92521
On December 20, 1990 was hit by a record freeze.California Avocado Commission - Freeze Watch Flyer
UC Davis Principles of Frost Protection
UC Davis Biometeorology Program (Scroll down to view frost protection information)