Collaboration of Agencies Unite in Emergency
An EF-1 Tornado hit the City of Peru, IN on 10 July 2013. The tornado touched down" on the west side of Peru at approximately 1:30pm. The USDA Service Center was one of the first buildings in the path of the tornado. Two sections of the roof were removed by the strong winds and the drywall ceiling was quickly soaked by the following rain storm. Vehicles were damaged in the parking lot and debris was scattered all across the Peru area. Quick action, an 'up to date' Emergency Action plan, and a strong local partnership between Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Indiana State Dep’t of Ag (ISDA) and the Miami County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) kept the staff focused.
The Miami County USDA Service center has a high conservation workload, especially in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI) for the Middle Eel River under the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). After the tornado, Miami County SWCD worked out of FSA's front office. During the remodeling phase, Miami Co SWCD not only kept up with the regular workload but developed its own cover crop cost share program to area farmers. The Board of Supervisors offered $20,000.00 SWCD dollars to this program. Through the tornado, communications disruptions and office repairs, it was the united effort of two federal agencies, one state agency and one county agency that contributed to the ability to successfully keep on track with putting conservation on the land in Miami County.