Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Disaster Assessment and Recovery unit assessing damage, providing assistance
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) -With recovery efforts underway, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Disaster Assessment and Recovery, DAR, unit is ready to lend a helping hand.
DAR agents help conduct agricultural damage assessments on farms and ranches involving crops, livestock and infrastructure. DAR can also help provide shelter and feed assistance, as well as other needs at the county level.
Six DAR agents, working under the lead of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, are working Disaster District Emergency Operations Centers encompassing District 15 (Hardin, Jefferson, Orange), District 16 (Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Walker, Waller, Wharton) and District 17 (Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Lavaca, Victoria), all of which include counties impacted by the storm.
“I know we have one of our DAR agents doing assessments in Warton County looking at rice and corn field damage there,” said Blair Fannin with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service DAR unit. “This time of year, we are doing a lot of harvesting so the storm could have impacted those mature crops.”
With a presence in all 254 Texas counties, AgriLife Extension embeds local disaster response teams built from the communities it serves.
The advice they have for people is to make sure they document everything.
“Texas A&M AgriLife Extention Service and our DAR unit, we’re uniquely positioned with county extension agents in all 254 counties across the state of Texas so between our DAR agents and our county extension network, we have the capability to respond to a variety of disasters,” Fannin said.
Extension and DAR agents respond to a variety of disasters.
Before Hurricane Beryl, they responded to the Texas panhandle for the wildfires.
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