Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Disaster Assessment and Recovery, DAR, agents and county agents have responded to more than 100 landowner requests for assistance from damage surveys that include a five-county area impacted by Hurricane Beryl. The storm entered the southeastern portion of Texas and eventually was downgraded to a tropical storm. DAR agents and more than 40 AgriLife Extension agency personnel have been working in Harris, Matagorda, Wharton, Brazoria and Fort Bend counties as damage reports are entered through the Texas Division of Emergency Management iStat reporting tool.

As of July 18, 417 AgSTAT agricultural damage entries were recorded, with AgriLife Extension and its county agent network responding to 104 landowner requests for assistance. These requests utilize both DAR agents and county agents working with landowners on assessments of crops, farm infrastructure and other critical components of their operations.

“Our DAR agents are assisting with assessments and logging damages done to crops and infrastructure through these hard-hit counties,” said Monty Dozier, Ph.D., DAR program director, Bryan-College Station. “DAR agents have also responded to document other damage done in respective counties as requested by the Texas Division of Emergency Management.”

Response efforts

Three teams of DAR agents are deployed to provide assessments in Brazoria County, while another two teams are assigned to Fort Bend County. DAR has mobile command operations established at the Port of Houston to assist with trucking and transportation logistics of various commodities that include water, meals and other supplies used at cooling and medical aid centers.

“We are assisting with staging efforts of these trucks loaded with commodities and also assisting with returning operations,” Dozier said.

With a presence in all 254 Texas counties, AgriLife Extension embeds local disaster response teams built from the communities it serves. This layered, comprehensive network positions DAR as one of the most unique and effective disaster response infrastructures in the nation.

Reporting damage

The Texas Division of Emergency Management encourages individuals to report losses incurred from Hurricane Beryl through the Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool, iSTAT, reporting tool. This tool assists emergency management officials in assessing damages through iSTAT Damage Surveys, helping state officials identify resource needs and determine qualification for federal disaster aid.