Contacts: Julie Christensen, U of M Extension, (612) 626-4077

U of M Extension announces weather impacts web, phone resources

ST. PAUL, Minn. (6/9/2008) — University of Minnesota Extension announced today its coordinated system of online and phone answer resources available for those with flood and storm-related questions, both during an emergency and while cleanup efforts are underway.

A state of emergency has been declared in Houston County where flood waters have damaged roads, caused mudslides and forced more than 50 people to be evacuated from a campground late Sunday. Fillmore County officials have also evacuated several campsites as rising waters continue to cause problems in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.

According to the National Weather Service, flood warnings remain in effect today in Houston, Mower and Fillmore counties.

The toll free phone services and Extension’s rain, flood, wind and tornado disaster recovery resources website, www.extension.umn.edu, click on “Weather Impacts,” connect Minnesotans to the most up-to-date information on flood and storm response, safety and cleanup issues. Two of the phone services, the Farm Information Line and the AnswerLine, can also refer callers to appropriate state or federal agencies if additional information is needed.

The Farm Information Line (800-232-9077), staffed by Extension personnel Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., is a resource for questions about water, crops, horticulture and climatology issues. Questions at other times of the day and on weekends can be left on voice mail and will be returned during staffed hours. In addition, questions can be e-mailed to the Farm Information Line at fil@umn.edu, and a written response will be returned.

Extension’s AnswerLine (800-854-1678), which can provide answers to household and family-oriented questions, is staffed Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.

If callers are unsure about which answer service to contact, they should first call the Farm Information Line (800-232-9077), and Extension personnel will help direct them.

A one-stop online resource, the Extension weather impacts website was reactivated on June 9 with information for recovery from flood and rain as well as other storm damage.

NOTE: News releases were current as of the date of issue. If you have a question on older releases, use the news release search (upper left-hand column of the News main page) or the main Extension search (upper right of this page) to locate more recent information.

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URL: http:// www.extension.umn.edu/extensionnews/2008/weatherimpacts.html This page was updated June 9, 2008 .
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