Atlantic hurricane season began June 1, running through Nov. 30 and peaking mid-August to late October. When hurricanes or any other disasters occur that impact agriculture in North Carolina, each division of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services responds to help farmers, consumers and communities recover. Before they happen, the Emergency Programs Division of the department coordinates efforts to prepare for them.
In June, the Emergency Programs Division held a Hurricane Flooding Agricultural Response Tabletop Exercise — a refresher activity — at the Steve Troxler Agricultural Sciences Center.
“Sometimes in emergency situations, it can feel like we are building the plane while we’re trying to fly it,” said Kelly Nilsson, director of the Emergency Programs Division. “These exercises help us get players from different divisions and partner agencies in the same room to work through a scenario, build the plane, and identify room for improvement before a disaster has actually occurred.”
Representatives from each of the department’s divisions, as well as other agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, N.C. Emergency Management, N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, N.C. Cooperative Extension and several others, came together to work through a fictitious hurricane scenario.
Participants brainstormed possible solutions to various situations that might occur in the aftermath of a real weather event, pulling on the lived experiences and memories of responding to Hurricanes Helene, Matthew, Florence, Floyd and even Fran. The wide range of participants from various agencies and generations of institutional knowledge made for a collaborative and educational exercise.
“Preparedness is key in any emergency situation,” said Greg Hicks, assistant commissioner and state forester for the N.C. Forest Service. “Coming together like this ahead of time is an important way for us to strengthen interagency coordination.”
Other participating agencies included: N.C. Farm Bureau, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Animal Rabies Control Association, N.C. Vet Medical Association, N.C. Animal Federation, Cattlemen’s Association, Piedmont Emergency Animal Response Team and N.C. A&T State University.