Booklet helps agribusinesses prepare for, recover from, floods
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service publication can help agribusinesses prepare for - and survive - floods that pose major challenges to the industry.
"Plan Today for Tomorrow's Flood: A Flood Response Plan for Agricultural Retailers" (publication PPP-87) contains tips for creating a flood response plan, putting the plan into action, evacuating when flooding occurs, recovering from floods and rebuilding permits.
The publication was written by Purdue specialists and retail businesspeople who have faced flooding, said Fred Whitford, director of Purdue Pesticide Programs and the publication's lead author.
"We've captured their ideas and what they did," he said. "We picked ag retailers for this publication because in terms of volumes of fuel, fertilizer, pesticides, small oil lubes and drums of various products, we thought it was important to address this specific industry."
The audience for the flood guide is significant, Whitford said.
In Indiana alone there are 554 co-ops and independent businesses licensed by the state to provide retail services to farmers, Whitford said. Those businesses represent about 2,000 employees.
"If you think about it, there's a lot of product that we have sitting on the ground, which makes this information very important," he said.
Whitford said he learned much about flood planning and recovery from developing the publication, such as the need to back up computer files and keep important paper documents in a place where they can be moved to safety quickly.
Deciding who at the business is in charge of shutting the operation down and driving equipment to higher ground are other plans often forgotten until it's too late, Whitford said.
The 44-page publication includes color photos, illustrations and graphics. A companion resource, "When Floods Threaten" (PPP-88), is a magnet with a bulleted list of steps agricultural retailers should take in the event of flooding.
"Plan Today for Tomorrow's Flood" can be downloaded for free at https://www.btny.purdue.edu/Pubs/PPP/PPP-87.pdf
A printed copy costs $1 and is available by logging onto https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?itemID=19609 or by calling toll-free 1-888-EXT-INFO (1-888-398-4636).
"When Floods Threaten" also is $1 and can be ordered online at https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?itemID=19610 or through the toll-free number above. It also can be downloaded from https://www.btny.purdue.edu/Pubs/PPP/PPP-88.pdf
Writer: Steve Leer, 765-494-8415, sleer@purdue.edu
Source: Fred Whitford, 765 494-1284, fwhitford@purdue.edu
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu
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