October 23, 2024
www.gfb.org
Vol. 6 No. 20
USDA OFFERS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR HELENE FARM DAMAGE On Oct. 15, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced additional assistance from the USDA to help producers impacted by Hurricane Helene in the recovery process. USDA also announced counties that have triggered for payment under the Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement for Hurricane Helene. Approved Insurance Providers (AIP) have 30 days to issue payments to producers. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) first offered HIP-WI for the 2020 hurricane season, and last year, the endorsement was expanded to include the Tropical Storm Option (TS). Under HIP-WI and TS, producers with the endorsement will receive more than $233 million in indemnities for hurricane-related losses from Hurricane Helene. These payments will directly help farmers and rural communities recover. At the time of the announcement, Hurricane Helene’s estimated indemnities for both HIP-WI and TS in Georgia totaled $207.7 million. These payments are in addition to those made for hurricanes Beryl, Debby and Francine. The USDA noted that more than $630 million in payments have been issued nationwide under HIPWI and TS in 2024. A full list of FSA disaster assistance programs is available on the Hurricane webpage on www.farmers.gov. Emergency Procedures Due to the catastrophic damage that Hurricane Helene caused in the southeast as well as the continuing impacts from Hurricane Debby, RMA authorized emergency procedures to help producers with hurricane-related losses. The USDA indicated that RMA is working with crop insurance companies to streamline and accelerate the adjustment of losses and issuance of indemnity payments to crop insurance policyholders in impacted areas. RMA’s emergency procedure flexibilities apply to all counties in Georgia impacted by Hurricane Helene or Hurricane Debby. Additional information on these emergency procedures is available on RMA’s Hurricanes Helene and Debby webpage. -continued on next page