Virginia Cooperative Extension helps communities rebuild after Hurricane Helene

Brantley Ivey thought his farm was ready for the coming storm. 

Days before Hurricane Helene, Ivey and his crew at River Ridge Farm in Grayson County moved equipment and cattle to high ground on the 2,000-acre cattle and berry farm nestled along the New River.

But when the river surged to record levels on Friday, Sept. 27, it took with it the 12-acre organic berry farm, 500 bales of hay, 12 miles of fencing, and numerous pieces of farm equipment. Wading into chest-deep water, Ivey and his cattle foreman narrowly saved several cows from being whisked downriver.

“It was a sad thing to watch everything we’ve worked on and built wash down the river,” he said, surveying the damage.

Though the floodwaters have receded, the recovery for farmers like Ivey will last for months and even years. As of Oct. 17, Virginia Cooperative Extension had reported that 3,672 farms in 21 counties and cities faced almost $160 million in losses – including crops, livestock, fencing, equipment, buildings, timber, and hay and feed to sustain their animals through the winter. 

The damage assessments are critical in informing state and federal disaster and relief response – and one of the many ways Extension supports the commonwealth and its No. 1 private industry as the outreach arm of Virginia Tech and Virginia State University.

“The Extension agents have led the effort,” said Ivey, who is also chairman of Grayson County’s Board of Supervisors. “They know and care about everybody and bring everyone together in a crisis.” 

Like the majority of the rural Virginia counties hit hardest by the storm, Grayson County is predominantly dependent on agriculture, which constitutes 67 percent of its revenue.

“Agriculture is the lifeblood of these little counties,” Ivey said. “It’s absolutely crucial to keep these small rural communities with healthy, thriving agriculture. It’s not just saving the family farms, you’re saving the whole county.” 

From the onset of the storm, Extension agents have led community and statewide efforts to help farms recover and rebuild – conducting damage assessments, marshalling vitally needed resources, and preserving agriculture as a key driver of Virginia's economy. 

“We have a long journey forward, but it’s going to be our honor to do everything we can to support our communities,” said Mike Gutter, director of Virginia Cooperative Extension and associate dean in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “Neighbors helping neighbors is what Extension has done for over 100 years.” 

"In Extension, we do it together with our community"

In the first 24 hours after the storm, Grayson County Extension Agent Kevin Spurlin ’98 helped neighbors trapped in their homes cut away fallen trees and clear debris. When he started visiting farms the next day, he immediately saw the gravity of the destruction.

“A lot of farmland along the river is gone,” Spurlin said. “There are streams that have a completely different flow now.”

With over $61 million in agricultural losses, Grayson County was hardest-hit by the hurricane, sustaining over 38 percent of Virginia’s total damage. Its neighboring counties, Wythe, Smyth, Washington, and Carroll, together sustained 80 percent of the state’s total agricultural damage.

Spurlin has never seen such flooding in Southwest Virginia. A county resident for all of his 47 years, he went to Virginia Tech to study dairy science and later returned to serve his community as an Extension agent. 

“This will stick with people the rest of their lives,” he said. “We have to help each other. In Extension, we do it together with our community.”

At an old Vaughn Furniture warehouse in Galax, Spurlin works with county officials and other agents to collect donations of hay, feed, fencing, chainsaws, and other crucial supplies that he distributes to farmers in need. 

“Even though it’s a Band-Aid on a big cut, these donations are a tangible benefit that we can provide to our community now,” he said. “It fills an immediate need while they wait to see what insurance and federal programs and reimbursements are going to cover.”

He added that long-term, help with debris removal and putting up fencing will be farmers’ greatest need.

“There are hay fields that have 2 feet of sand on them. What was a green field now looks like a beach,” he said. “You can’t go back in and re-establish crops on that land. We’ve got to bring that land back into productivity.”

"I wanted to help carry some of the load"

After surveying over $7 million in damage in Lee County, where she is an Extension agent and unit coordinator, Amy Byington '08, M.S. '12 wanted to do more to help rural communities in Southwest Virginia. 

“I saw what happened in eastern Kentucky in their flood in July of 2022 and saw the efforts those Extension agents made for their farmers,” Byington said. “My county has been affected by damage, but not to the level of the others. I wanted to help carry some of the load for my counterparts and help as many farmers as I could.”

She quickly helped set up the Southwest Virginia Agricultural Relief Program to connect farmers in need with donors offering hay, feed, fencing, water, volunteer assistance, and other necessities. The program is a partnership between Extension and the Virginia Cattlemen's Association, Virginia Farm Bureau, Virginia Agribusiness Council, and Farm Credit of the Virginias. As the program’s coordinator, Byington directs donations and supplies to where they are most needed.

She also helps oversee donations to 10 collection and distribution sites across seven counties. To date, Byington estimates that donors have provided over $40,000 in farm supplies and approximately 20 percent of the hay needed to replace what farmers lost.

“We are so grateful to all the people who are helping out,” Byington said. “We still need around 4,000 rolls of hay and people willing to transport it. Hay remains a big need that will be an issue for farmers this winter.”

"It’s a blessing to be able to support these people"

During the week after the storm, the Southwest Virginia 4-H Center offered a refuge for 140 linemen performing repairs and restoring power in the area. 4-H Center staff and volunteers quickly mobilized to provide bedding, meals, laundry service, and cabin cleaning for the linemen.

Volunteers started each day at 3 a.m. making breakfast, which included 420 eggs, 280 biscuits with gravy, bacon, and sausage, and 23 pots of coffee. Meals, including boxed lunches, had to be over 3,000 calories to sustain the line workers through long, grueling days.

“We are so grateful to everyone in the community who donated their time and worked around the clock in shifts to ensure the linemen had a great stay in Southwest Virginia,” said center Director Jeff Connell. 

“It’s a blessing to be able to support these people who are working for our community,” said Program Director Abbigail Moore.

The linemen, who were contractors from the company Eversource, which serves Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, left rave reviews and thanks on the center’s Facebook page.

“Thank you for all your hard work feeding us,” said one. “Everything was amazing. Can’t thank you enough.”

“Thanks so much for the hospitality,” said another. “We really appreciated it.”

Extension agents serve dual roles as first responders 

As deputy fire chief for the Duffield Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department in Scott County, Scott Jerrell started out the night of Sept. 27 on flood watch. After fighting a structure fire, he and his crew spent the night working to clear roads of downed trees and debris. In the morning, they suppressed a second fire. In the first 48 hours after the storm, Jerrell slept four hours.

Over the following days, he shifted to his other role as Scott County’s unit coordinator and Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources. Jerrell visited 117 farms to assess $3.7 million in damage, helping cut down trees and remove debris along the way.

“We do it because we love our community,” he said. “They’re not just clients, they’re family. I view it as an honor to walk through this with our producers.”

Tazewell County Extension Agent John Blankenship was also on duty as a firefighter the night of the hurricane.

“We couldn’t keep up with the trees falling down,” he said. “There’s a lot of mending that needs to be done. We have miles and miles of fences and very large trees down.”

Tazewell County sustained over $9 million in agricultural damage.

“We all know that margins are lean on the farm,” Blankenship said. “Some of our smaller, younger farmers – they may not ever recover.”

Hay donations start to roll in

At Extension’s Hay Donation Day on Saturday, Oct. 19, trucks loaded with round rolls and square bales of hay brought relief to four collection sites manned by Extension agents and volunteers.

Virginia Tech alumnus William Flippen ’78 and his family traveled almost four hours from Goochland, Virginia, to deliver 600 bales of hay.

Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Matthew Lohr, a 1995 graduate of Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, stopped at several collection sites to help out.

“It’s the Extension agents who are the liaisons between their communities and the federal and state agencies,” Lohr said. “From the very beginning they were boots-on-the-ground, hands-on working to assess damage and organize donations. Every step of the way Extension has been leading.”

"I’m just so grateful someone was there for me"

Stacie Mitchem, a horse farm owner in Smyth County, has a small creek that runs through her property. Hurricane Helene turned that creek into a river, flooding a goat pen, strewing debris everywhere, and resulting in the loss of 120 bales of hay for her animals.

"Several people promised to bring me hay, but no one ever followed through with it,” she said. “Extension was the only one to follow through. I'm just so grateful someone was there for me."

Smyth County Extension Agents Andy Overbay '85, M.S. '02, Ph.D. '06 and Bailey Robertson filled her barn with 120 hay bales and involved 4-H youth in the effort.

"It's meant everything,” Mitchem said. “It means my horses won't starve this winter. I live off a single income, and I didn't know how I was going to get hay to feed them with the cold weather coming up." 

Virginia Cooperative Extension offers resources for people impacted by the storms and also seeking ways to help. Visit the VCE Hurricane Resources webpage for a list of available resources and relief efforts in your community.  

Through the Southwest Virginia Agricultural Relief Program, farmers with damages can complete this survey to request donations. Donors or volunteers who want to help can complete this survey.

As an integral part of both Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, Virginia Cooperative Extension works in communities across the commonwealth to share knowledge, support businesses, and implement research that advances the wellbeing of all Virginians. To locate an Extension office near you, visit  https://ext.vt.edu/offices.html.

"I really appreciate, but I’m not surprised, how our agents have stepped up to help the people of their community when most needed," said Danny Peek, director of Virginia Cooperative Extension's Southwest District. "Our agents are the best part of Virginia Cooperative Extension."