Emergency Support to Producers in Surrounding Counties/Border States Also Available
(USDA/FSA) — Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated 13 Alabama counties as primary natural disaster areas. Producers in Autauga, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Elmore, Lowndes, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Washington and Wilcox counties who suffered losses caused by Hurricane Zeta that occurred from October 28 through October 29, 2020, may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.
This natural disaster designation allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation or the refinance of certain debts.
Producers in the contiguous counties listed below are also eligible to apply for emergency loans:
- Alabama: Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Calhoun, Cleburne, Conecuh, Coosa, Crenshaw, DeKalb, Escambia, Etowah, Greene, Hale, Macon, Montgomery, Perry, Shelby, Sumter and Tallapoosa
- Georgia: Chattooga, Floyd and Polk
- Mississippi: Clarke, George, Greene, Jackson, Lauderdale and Wayne
The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is Aug. 23, 2021.
FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.
FSA has a variety of additional programs to help farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster. FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include: Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; and the Tree Assistance Program.
Farmers may contact their local USDA service center for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at farmers.gov/recover.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.
Source: USDA/Farm Service Agency
International Space Station Flyover of Hurricane Zeta
Cameras outside the International Space Station captured dramatic views of Hurricane Zeta at 12:50 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday Oct. 28, 2020 as the storm churned 200 miles south-southwest of New Orleans packing winds of 90 miles an hour.
Zeta is expected to make landfall near New Orleans later in the day Wednesday Oct. 28 as a Category 2 hurricane before accelerating to the northeast.
According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, a life-threatening storm surge is expected along portions of the northern Gulf Coast beginning later today, with the highest inundation occurring between Port Fourchon, Louisiana, and Dauphin Island, Alabama.
Hurricane conditions are expected this afternoon and evening within portions of the hurricane warning area along the southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi coasts. Tropical storm conditions are expected within portions of the tropical storm warning area along the Alabama and far western Florida Panhandle coasts.
More information is available at the National Hurricane Center website: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/#Zeta
More information about how and why NASA studies hurricanes is available at the NASA website: https://nasa.gov/hurricane