Hurricane Emergency Assistance Updates - Florida

NRCS Emergency Assistance

From floods to drought, fire or hurricanes, Florida NRCS provides disaster recovery assistance to farmers, ranchers, landowners and communities through the following programs:

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) - Emergency Assistance

NRCS provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural and forest producers to improve or protect natural resource conditions while also improving agricultural operations. NRCS can provide payments, through conservation program contracts, for EQIP conservation practices to help agricultural landowners and producers address disaster related resource concerns on their land.

Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP)

EWP recovery projects begin with a local sponsor or legal subdivision of state or tribal government. Eligible sponsors include cities, counties, towns, conservation districts, or any federally-recognized Native American tribe or tribal organization. Interested public and private landowners must work through a sponsor.

HURRICANE IDALIA (2023)

Florida NRCS is working to ensure agricultural landowners and producers affected by Hurricane Idalia receive timely technical and financial assistance. 

A virtual public meeting was held September 12, 2023, to share information on NRCS emergency assistance (for EQIP and EWP).

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Emergency Assistance **Apply by November 17, 2023**

Florida Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Emergency Declaration Counties:  Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Madison, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, and Wakulla Counties.

NRCS EQIP conservation practices eligible for financial assistance in the Hurricane Idalia emergency declaration counties:

Practice Name (Practice Code & Units)
     Clearing and Snagging (326 - ac)
     Conservation Cover (327 - ac)
     Cover Crop (340 - ac)
     Critical Area Planting (342 - ac)
     Emergency Animal Mortality Management (368 - amu)
     Fence (382 - ft)
     Mulching (484 - ac)
     Obstruction Removal (500 - no)
     Woody Residue Treatment (384 - ac)

Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Assistance **Apply by October 29, 2023**

EWP assistance is available to Florida communities impacted by Hurricane Idalia. NRCS encourages local and state governments to serve as sponsors and request assistance to relieve imminent hazards to life and property caused by the hurricane. For efficiency, NRCS has set up an e-mail inbox where potential sponsors can submit requests for EWP assistance at: SM.FPAC.NRCS.FLEWP@USDA.GOV. The deadline to request EWP assistance is October 29, 2023.

Recent Florida Hurricanes - History

Hurricane Idalia (2023)

Hurricane Idalia made landfall about 7:45 a.m., August 30, 2023, near Taylor County’s Keaton Beach as a Category 3 storm, the National Hurricane Center said. The hurricane center said maximum sustained winds were 125 mph, which is 5 mph below the threshold for a Category 4 storm. Idalia then moved through areas of North Florida in the Big Bend region of Florida, with hurricane conditions expected elsewhere in portions of the hurricane warning area along the Florida Gulf Coast. Strong winds spread inland across portions of northern Florida and southern Georgia. Storm surges occurred up to 12 to 16 feet in hurricane impacted coastal areas. A State of Emergency was declared in 49 Florida counties. Evacuation notices were issued in 28 counties, according to news reports. Idalia is the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Big Bend region, the nook between the panhandle and peninsula, in more than 125 years. Major agricultural damages include:  peanuts, vegetable crops, orchards, chicken houses, hay barns, and fencing. Poultry operations estimate as many as five million chickens died from the storm.

HURRICANE NICOLE (2022)

Hurricane Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane just south of Vero Beach, Florida, at 3:00 a.m. Thursday, November 10, packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Later becoming a tropical storm, the system brought heavy rains and strong winds across central Florida. Landing on Florida’s eastern shores, Nicole is the first hurricane to hit the US in November in nearly 40 years.

HURRICANE IAN (2022)

Hurricane Ian made landfall early Wednesday afternoon on September 28, 2022, near Charlotte Harbor area in southwest Florida as a Category 4 storm – nearly a Category 5, with winds of 155 mph. Most of the southwest coast of Florida, experienced and life-threatening risk from catastrophic storm surges, wind, and flooding. The storm moved slowly over the peninsula and lingered over central Florida into the early morning hours of Thursday, September 29, 2022, dumping heavy rains with wind gusts up to 50mph. Hurricane winds extended out 45 miles from the center as it made landfall. The northeast area of the state, near St. John’s River, was also impacted heavily as the storm continued its northeast trajectory across the state.as a Category 4 storm with winds of 155 mph.

To expedite Hurricane Ian disaster recovery, NRCS offered early start waivers in EQIP emergency declaration counties, to allow commencement of key conservation practices prior to conservation program contract approval. Producers were asked to file an EQIP application and a waiver before beginning an EQIP conservation practice. The deadline for interested landowners and producers to sign up was November 15, 2022.