It Also Aided Daycare Kids During 9/11

by Ron Hall, Office of Communications

Ah yes, it's the beginning of summer in the U.S.--which means that, so far in 2006, sections of the Northeast have already experienced major flooding, the Midwest and South have coped with tornadoes, parched portions of the West and Southwest are struggling with another year of miniscule rainfall, and the Gulf Coast is casting a wary eye at what may be another active hurricane season.

In short, Mother Nature can be a real trip.

But USDA is assisting in a program designed to help reduce the impact of disasters at the community level. It's called "EDEN"--or "Extension Disaster Education Network."

Joseph Wysocki is the National Program Leader for Housing and Environment with the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and is EDEN's overall point of contact. He explained that EDEN is a collaborative effort by Extension Services across the country, through the nation's land grant universities, to share education resources, in order to reduce the impact of disasters--whether they are natural or human-caused--and aid in recovery.

"EDEN," added Bill Hoffman, the National Program Leader for Agricultural Homeland Security with CSREES, "is designed to improve service delivery to those affected by disasters."

Wysocki said that the Extension Disaster Education Network accomplishes this by: sharing a variety of research and education programs that address the various stages of disaster mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery; providing linkages with federal, state, and local agencies and organizations; anticipating future disaster education needs and actions; and providing timely and prompt communications and delivery of information that meet audience needs.

"That may be a lot of verbiage. But the bottom line: EDEN is the premier provider of disaster education resources that are delivered through our land grant university system."

Ed Jones, Associate Director for Agricultural Programs at North Carolina State University in Raleigh and Chair of EDEN, explained that EDEN was formed in 1994 following the "Great Flood of '93" in the Midwest and North Central states. "Following that disaster, Extension educators recognized a need for a network that could share education resources which focused on disaster prevention and recovery."

The Extension Disaster Education Network then received its first round of funding in 2002 from CSREES. "Today," he affirmed, "49 states and three territories--Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico--are represented in the EDEN network." Massachusetts is presently considering that option.

As a national network, EDEN's points of contact communicate informally through an e-mail group, and they meet annually. EDEN also has its own website: www.EDEN.lsu.edu.

EDEN provides online, train-the-trainer materials to teach Extension educators about disaster-related topics. Dennis Kopp, the Assistant Administrator for Program and Analysis in CSREES, said recent materials focused on protecting America's food system, plant biosecurity management, and USDA roles in the federal National Response Plan.

Okay, that all sounds nice--but what has EDEN done for us lately?

Several EDEN points of contact were quick to provide responses to that question.

For instance, Steve Cain, the EDEN Homeland Security Project Director at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., noted that in November 2005, high winds and tornadoes struck Indiana, killing 24 people and destroying or damaging hundreds of homes.

"However, as part of our EDEN planning," said Gary Michel, Extension educator in Warrick County, Ind., "awhile ago Purdue Extension had developed a prearranged Memorandum of Agreement to use the county fairgrounds--located near the worst storm damage--as a staging area for volunteers to organize, in order to remove debris and to use fairground facilities to shelter displaced people, pets, and livestock."

When that storm moved through Warrick County, the destruction it left behind was located closer to area churches than to local fairgrounds. So Michel and other volunteers used the same approach contained in the Memo of Agreement to, instead, use church property as a staging area for volunteers.

Eric Hallman, Director of the Agricultural Health and Safety Program at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., recounted that the terrorist attacks on New York City's World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 saw innumerable urgent requests on the various communication lines. But, he noted, there was one particularly unique request, and EDEN was able to respond to it immediately.

The request was: "How do we talk to kids in New York City's daycare centers and schools about 9/11?" "That request came in from several elementary schools simultaneously, immediately after the planes hit the two towers," recalled New York EDEN Coordinator Ellen Abend. The EDEN Network sent that request back out to its points of contact around the country. "And, right away, someone responded," she said, "advising that 'Yeah, I've dealt with that, and here's what I said to the kids'. So, in turn, we e-mailed that information out to daycare centers and schools all around the country."

Becky Koch, the Director of Agricultural Communications at North Dakota State University in Fargo, advised that when snow melts too quickly in the spring, the Red River often floods the farmland that surrounds it. "In fact," she said, "rapid snowmelt this past spring resulted in flooding that was only two feet short of the 500-year flood level of 37 feet."

"So, even as the Red River was rising," added NDSU Extension engineer Ken Hellevang, "the NDSU Extension Service updated a web page with information on such topics as how to correctly build a sandbag dike, steps to reduce flood or water damage in homes, and the proper use of sump pumps." He said that local news reporters used this information and county Extension agents distributed information at sandbag filling and distribution sites.

"When the lights go out," advised Wysocki, "successful recovery after a disaster can depend on previously developed partnerships and information sharing."

"By relying on EDEN, we think you can up the odds on that happening."