University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension is working closely with Florida’s emergency operation centers to provide emergency information and assistance to those in the path of Hurricane Matthew.

“The local UF/IFAS Extension office is a disaster response resource in every community in Florida,” said Angie Lindsey, assistant professor of family, youth and community sciences. Lindsey is the UF/IFAS point of contact for the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN), a national organization of Extension educators who work to prepare communities for disasters.

Lindsey, who works with the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources, helps UF/IFAS Extension agents develop disaster response tools and further collaboration between agents and local officials.

While every UF/IFAS Extension office coordinates differently with city and county officials, each has a plan in place. “Helping out during times like these is part of Extension’s role in communities. We are in a state that is surrounded by water—we have to be prepared,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey, who previously worked with communities on Florida’s Gulf Coast recovering from the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill, became the point of contact for EDEN in August. With one hurricane — Hurricane Hermine — already under her belt, she said she’s learned a lot just by watching UF/IFAS Extension agents come to their community’s aid during an emergency.

Lindsey encourages residents, including those who work in agriculture and natural resources, to contact their UF/IFAS Extension county office directly for information and assistance before and after the storm. Contact information for local offices is available through http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/map/index.shtml.

UF/IFAS Extension information about how to prepare for and recover from a hurricane is also available online.

Home and infrastructure

• Having a family emergency plan
• Hurricane preparation: Evacuating your home
• Disaster prep and planning infographic
• Wind damage mitigation
• Hurricanes and mosquitoes
• Disaster assistance
• Flood insurance — A key to recovery
• Six steps in making an insurance claim
• Avoiding fraud and deception
• Replacing lost or damaged documents
• How to minimize wind damage in the south Florida landscape
• Hurricane-damaged palms in the landscape: Care after the storm

Family health and wellness

• Helping children cope with disasters
• Disaster planning for older adults
• Living with diabetes: Putting together an emergency preparedness plan
• Disaster food safety
• Preparing and storing an emergency safe drinking water supply
• No power, no problem: Don’t let Hurricane Matthew keep you from eating healthy (video)

Agriculture and natural resources

• Emergency considerations for beef cattle
• Hurricane preparedness for citrus groves
• Practices to minimize flooding damage to commercial vegetable production
• Preparing for and recovering from hurricane and tropical storm damage to tropical fruit groves in Florida
• Urban forest hurricane recovery
• Storm-damaged agrichemical facilities

By: Samantha Grenrock, 352-294-3307, grenrosa@ufl.edu

Source: Angie Lindsey, 904-509-3518, ablindsey@ufl.edu

UF/IFAS photo by Tyler Jones

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