Disaster Analysis 2024

NASS can now monitor agricultural disasters in near real-time and provide quantitative assessments using remotely sensed data and geospatial techniques. This page provides disaster assessments in geospatial data format, reports, and metadata as available. A flood monitoring methodology paper is located here.

Hurricane Milton – October 2024

Hurricane Milton was a Category 3 storm that made landfall on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 near Siesta Key, FL. At peak intensity, the hurricane was the fifth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. The hurricane caused a tornado outbreak, heavy precipitation, and strong winds throughout the state. Furthermore, Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida just two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the same region. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) produced an assessment on the extent of potential damage to agricultural land from this event. A disaster assessment was conducted using available Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and cloud-free Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8/9 optical imagery coverage to identify inundated areas due to Hurricane Helene. Inundated areas were then compared to the 2023 Cropland Data Layer (CDL) to estimate crops potentially affected by the floods. Additional wind and precipitation analysis were conducted using the 2023 CDL.


Files available for download: Synopsis | Event Report (PDF)



Map of Hurricane Milton - October 2024

Download higher resolution map: PNG

Hurricane Helene – September 2024

Hurricane Helene was a large, deadly catastrophic hurricane, which caused high storm surge, hurricane-force wind gusts, and rainfall-triggered flooding across the Southeastern U.S. in late September 2024. The storm made landfall in Florida on September 26, 2024 as a Category 4 hurricane. It degenerated to a post-tropical cyclone on September 27, 2024 over Tennessee. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) produced an assessment on the extent of potential damage to agricultural land from this event. A disaster assessment was conducted using available Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and cloud-free Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8/9 optical imagery coverage to identify inundated areas due to Hurricane Helene. Inundated areas were then compared to the 2023 Cropland Data Layer (CDL) to estimate crops potentially affected by the floods. Additional wind and precipitation analysis were conducted using the 2023 CDL.


Files available for download: Synopsis | Event Report (PDF)



Map of Hurricane Helene September 2024

Download higher resolution map: PNG

Hurricane Debby – August 2024

Hurricane Debby caused torrential rainfall and widespread flooding across the Southeastern U.S. in early August 2024. The storm made landfall near Steinhatchee, Florida on August 5, 2024 as a Category 1 storm, re-entered the Atlantic, and made second landfall in South Carolina on August 8. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) produced an assessment on the extent of potential damage to agricultural land from this event. A disaster assessment was conducted using available Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and cloud-free Sentinel-2 Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) imagery coverage to identify inundated areas due to Hurricane Debby. Inundated areas were then compared to the 2023 Cropland Data Layer (CDL) to estimate crops potentially affected by the floods.


Files available for download: Synopsis | Event Report (PDF)

Map of Hurricane Debby Precipitation August 2024

Download higher resolution map: PNG

Midwest Floods: Late June 2024

During late June 2024, heavy rainfall across northwest Iowa, southwest Minnesota, and southeast South Dakota from June 20-22 resulted in rainfall totals exceeding 2 inches in most areas with widespread totals ranging from 5-10 inches. Some locations in southeast South Dakota and northwest Iowa reported 10-20 inches of rainfall. The event resulted in flash flooding, with record flooding observed at several river points and widespread, devastating floods in towns adjacent to rivers. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) produced an assessment on the extent of potential damage to agricultural land and activities from this event. A disaster assessment was conducted using available Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and cloud-free Sentinel-2 Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) imagery coverage to identify likely inundated areas by the flooding events in late June 2024. Inundated areas were then compared to the 2023 Cropland Data Layer (CDL) to estimate crops potentially affected by the floods.


Files available for download: Synopsis | Event Report (PDF)

Map of Midwest Floods (late June 2024)

Download higher resolution map: PNG

Texas Wildfires: February 26 - March 2024

Beginning on February 26th (2024), emergency alerts were issued for multiple wildfires in northern Texas with potential to expand. The Smokehouse Creek incident was the largest of these wildfires and is the largest wildfire in Texas history with over one million acres of land burned. Damage reported in affected areas included hundreds of burned homes, thousands of livestock dead, and destruction of crops, grasslands, and ranching infrastructure. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) produced an assessment on the extent of potential damage to agricultural land and activities in the State of Texas from this event. Using the 2023 Cropland Data Layer and the WFIGS Current Interagency Fire Perimeters shapefile downloaded on March 7th (2024), NASS identified agricultural areas that may have been affected by the wildfires. Sampled burned areas were visually confirmed using Sentinel-2 Multi-Spectral Imagery (MSI) and WorldView-3, WorldView-2, and GeoEye-1 high resolution imagery (© 2023 Maxar and © 2024 Maxar).


Interactive Story Map (click thumbnail image below to view): ArcGIS Story Map of Texas Wildfires 2024

For an interactive version of this disaster assessment product, please view the "Texas Wildfires (2024) ArcGIS Story Map". Note: The Story Map can be viewed on a desktop or mobile device. However, it is best viewed using either Chrome or Edge web browsers, and may not display properly on Safari.


Files available for download: Synopsis | Event Report (PDF)

Map of Texas Wildfires (February 26 thru March 2024)

Download higher resolution map: PNG

Previous Years:

Last Modified: 10/24/2024