The Clinton Administration has indicated that it would like to take the opposite tack, apparently hopeful that with further modifications the crop insurance program can become what Congress hoped it would be in 1980--the government's key risk-management tool for agriculture.
At a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing last week, Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy offered a glimpse of the direction the Administration may take.
Congress and the White House, Espy said, "must sit down and decide what's the difference between a disaster and an absolute catastrophe." Disasters, he said, would be covered by crop insurance and the government must refrain from offering emergency aid under those circumstances. But in cases of absolute catastrophe, he said, the government would necessarily provide supplementary assistance.
The Toll, State by State
State: Illinois
Deaths: 3
Property damage: Billions of dollars
Crop damage: $525 million
Evacuations: 12,720
Homes damaged: 6,000
Acres flooded: 561,000
Counties declared disaster areas*: 38 *
State: Iowa
Deaths: 4
Property damage: $2.7 billion**
Evacuations: 2,500
Homes damaged: 4,000
Acres flooded: 2 million
Counties declared disaster areas*: 99 *
State: Kansas
Deaths: 1
Property damage: n/a
Crop damage: n/a
Evacuations: 1,600
Homes damaged: n/a
Acres flooded: n/a
Counties declared disaster areas*: None *
State: Kentucky
Deaths: 0
Property damage: $15 million**
Evacuations: 0
Homes damaged: None
Acres flooded: 36,000
Counties declared disaster areas*: None *
State: Minnesota
Deaths: 4
Property damage: $18.4
Crop damage: $700 million
Evacuations: 1,100
Homes damaged: 10,000
Acres flooded: 2.2 million
Counties declared disaster areas*: 25 *
State: Missouri
Deaths: 19
Property damage: $2.7 billion**
Evacuations: at least 19,000
Homes damaged: n/a
Acres flooded: 320,000
Counties declared disaster areas*: 49 *
State: Nebraska
Deaths: 2
Property damage: $50 million
Crop damage: $121 million
Evacuations: n/a
Homes damaged: over 600
Acres flooded: 2.4 million+
Counties declared disaster areas*: 3 *
State: S. Dakota
Deaths: 3
Property damage: $596 million
Crop damage: $572 million
Evacuations: at least 2,200
Homes damaged: 1,000
Acres flooded: 3.3 million
Counties declared disaster areas*: 17 *
State: Wisconsin
Deaths: 2
Property damage: $133 million
Crop damage: $450 million
Evacuations: n/a
Homes damaged: 1,600
Acres flooded: n/a
Counties declared disaster areas*: 37 * State or federal ** Property and crop damage combined n/a: Not available
