UNMC reaches out to ag community in wake of flood

Ellen Duysen is the outreach specialist for the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health in the UNMC College of Public Health.

The devastating flood that hit Nebraska and Iowa and caused more than $3 billion in damage this spring was met with an overwhelming and immediate response by the UNMC community.

“The flood hit our agricultural community in a most profound way,” said Ellen Duysen, outreach specialist for the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) at UNMC’s College of Public Health. “It was only natural that we reacted quickly.”

CS-CASH personnel quickly identified the health and safety issues that face farmers and ranchers in the flood clean-up stage:

A webinar also was created and Duysen was a guest on “Consider This” on Nebraska Educational Television.

“I was so impressed to see our huge organization come together so quickly and work for a common cause,” she said. “It makes me grateful to be part of the UNMC community.”

Now, CS-CASH is working on a new pilot project to develop effective farm and ranch crisis communication plans and best practices for farm and ranch recovery following a flood event.

“We’ll develop evacuation plans for people and animals, discuss which buildings would be most affected and what farm paperwork should be kept easily accessible. Well contamination was a big issue during this flood event. If well pumps had been shut off, it would have eliminated a lot of contamination. This is an example of information that should be distributed before a disaster hits,” Duysen said.

“We’ll talk with farmers and ranchers about their experiences and how they would do things differently. There will be a next time and we want to be better prepared.”

2 comments

  1. Jessica Semin says:

    Ellen- you are a true public health warrior & always thinking of others! Thanks again for all you did for my neighborhood and beyond! 🙂

  2. Eleanor J. Shirley says:

    This is the first I’ve heard of CS-CASH. As a social worker, I have worked with patients and clients, communities, that have experienced trauma due to various life events. This widespread flooding and ravaging of the landscape has also ravaged many lives and communities. Thank you for what you’re doing to support and address the preparation and planning and rallying around the NE-IA areas during these dire circumstances. It’s going to be a long haul in recovery.

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