European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 14, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday August 14, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 5 drought costliest . Natural disaster food prices May Rise $40-$50 per person by Larry Green los Angeles times Chicago the great drought of 1988 is the costliest natural disaster in America s history with economic losses exceeding those of any previously documented drought earthquake Hurricane or flood and Consumers Are Likely to pick up the Tab. Farm production alone will be reduced by an Esti mated $11 billion to $15 billion the government s inter Agency drought policy committee says. Consumers rather than Farmers will pay for most of the losses and the Impact will linger Well into 1989, the committee and other economists agree. Most of the losses Consumers pay will come in the form of higher food prices. The drought could increase the average annual food Bill by $23 per person this year and by Between $40 and $50 next year based on one set of government indicators. The lost farm production will affect one of the coun try s most important economic indicators the Gross National product reducing the Index s growth rat slightly this year the report said. I think in current Dollar terms there is not much doubt this is the biggest physical disaster that agriculture has encountered said Neil Harl an agricultural economist. And except for War. It ranks Well up with All kinds of  prior to this year s drought the nation s costliest National disaster in terms of economic losses not in terms of death or injury was Hurricane Agnes according to disaster researcher James Cornell. That storm which struck from Florida to South Ern new York in 1972 caused damage totalling $10.24 billion when translated into 1988 dollars. Although Many individual Farmers will suffer significant losses net Cash farm income the key measure of farm Economy health is Likely to approach the Levels of 1987, when the weather was Normal. The reason the drought has inflated prices Farmers Are receiving for commodities they do have to sell. Several factors shield the farm Economy from the full Impact of the drought. First Many Farmers store their harvests rather then Selling them at a time when prices Are traditionally at their lowest. As a result Farmers who had 1987 Corn wheat and soybeans i their storage bins could sell those crops at drought inflated paces. Corn for example is Selling for 30percent More than a year ago and Beans have almost doubled in Price. However Many Farmers May not have crops to sell next year and that could be reflected in a reduced 1989 net Cash farm income. This year s farm income will also be boosted on a average because some Farmers Lucky enough to be in areas that had either sufficient rain or irrigation will have abundant crops to sell at High prices. The government s drought Relief legislation which president Reagan signed into Law thursday will also help to shield the farm sector from the drought s effects. That legislation which Harl called income re placement insurance could pump Between $3.9 Bil lion and $5 billion into the Rural Economy. Although it will take months to fully assess the drought s damage to the National and Rural economies its wide ranging Impact is beginning to emerge in government data. For example the value of Corn lost because of drought is a estimated $5.24 billion while lost soybean production is valued at an estimated $2.41 billion. The Corn an soybean loses Are Likely to increase if the bad weather persists As government forecasters predict an the autumn Harvest Falls Short of current government expectations. The Barge Industry which moves billions of tons of farm commodities Coal Petroleum and chemicals on the nation s drought lowered Inland Waterways could lose up to $ i billion this year. Although there is no Dollar estimate yet the drought will affect the Timber Industry for the next 10 years to 20 years. So far this year 62,000 wildfires have damaged 2.7 million acres More than double the damaged in 44,000 fires reported by this time Las year. As hydroelectric Power facilities Are affected by reduced River flows utilities Are being forced to buy Energy at higher costs to meet local and regional de mands raising electricity costs in some regions. Meanwhile the drought continues with wide areas of the nations heartland baking in a new heat wave and with Only widely scattered thundershowers bathing thirsty crops. Coast guard receives More funds for drug War Miami a the coast guard busiest drug interdiction team is delighted to have a share of $60 million i emergency Money and ready to stir it up with the opposition a coast guard official said. There s nothing worse than being Ona ship that won t get under Way said capt. John Linnon chief of staff of the seventh coast guard District which stretches from South Carolina Georgia Florida and the Caribbean to Mexico s Yucatan Peninsula. The people in the coast guard Are Happy to get Back to work. We re ready to stir it up with the opposition he said. Congress on thursday shifted $60million to the coast guard to help re store a variety of operations Cut last win Ter. The shift was part of a $672 million emergency spending Bill. I m delighted with this action the seventh District commander rear adm. Martin h. Daniell said in a  we can get our planes Back in the air and our cutters out to sea where the can do their  the budget fight is not Over Linno said standing in front of the polished Sands of time White cutters at the coast guard s base Miami Beach. The $60 million is what we need to finish out the fiscal  Linnon said the seventh District the busiest in drug intervention efforts had to Cut to three of the biggest deep water cutters per Day and had seen seizures drop by half from january to , the District will be Able to put to sea six or seven cutters. The District had already started to in crease patrols in anticipation of the Bud get shift. We be proven Over the years that it increased activity makes a difference he said. The Money will be spread among all10 of coast guard districts and will go toward a variety of needs including re suming training replenishing spare parts carrying out deferred maintenance and resuming patrols. Linnon said he has t seen How the Money will be distributed but More than 25 percent of District seven s budget is spent on Stop Ping drug traffic. In january the coast guard was being forced to Cut Back anti drug efforts by 55 percent because of a shortage of Money. In the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. Aug. 14, 1948 a russian schoolteacher wanted for questioning by congressional spy investigators was admitted to a new York City Hospital after leaping from a window of the soviet consulate. 30 years ago today. Aug. 14, 1958 president Eisenhower set Forth his six Point plan for an endur ing Middle East peace. It included the creation of an emergency United nations police Force and an International economic development program. 20 years ago today. Aug. 14, 1968 in a series of explosions in Athens Greece a bomb nearly hit the car of greek Premier George Papadopoulos. A greek army deserter was apprehended moments later for the apparent assassination attempt. 10 years ago today. Aug. 14, 1978 a powerful bomb destroyed a nine Story building in the pales Tinian Quarter of West Beirut killing at least 160 people in the worst single act of sabotage in Lebanon s history. A of a it pm pfc y to. Utt to v�4wm we  l  Tel tit my � � i o4k� in Lillet. � Mew Flat  Cwm Wohl to of tit for  r a  � a Mac. Tit a . Oxi Mote mini Iii Irtoli. % w a 1 a turn who Lew aim of  wac Towl of tic so m4w"m 1" s new a a f Owr temptation protest a this full Page and in Friday s Newyork times protests Martin scor Cese s film the last temptation  the and was taken by the american society for the defense of tradition family and property. The movie opened Friday amid a nation wide uproar. Story Page 28