Hurricanes and tropical storms can cause structural damage, but flood waters can harm families by tainting water supplies. Cities and counties alert citizens with boil advisories when municipal water supplies are affected, but those who rely on wells for water have to monitor their water themselves.

The Southeast is in Hurricane Irma’s crosshairs, and Georgia pecan farmers are bracing for the hurricane’s potential impact on this year’s crop.

If a mandatory evacuation is declared in your area, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agent Tim Davis says residents should prepare to be away from home for a few weeks.

The University of Georgia Tifton campus and the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) invites high school and college students interested in attending or transferring into CAES to attend the college’s Southwest ShowCAES on Tuesday, Sept. 19, at the Tifton Campus Conference Center.

New colors and varieties of scarlet sage will ensure a dazzling landscape or a sizzling mixed container for the whole gardening season. The Saucy series, ‘Saucy Wine’ and ‘Saucy Red,’ have both found fame in the Southern Living Plant Collection. ‘Saucy Coral’ has one of the rarest colors in the gardening world.

Hurricane Irma strengthened to a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 175 mph as of Monday, Sept. 5. It’s moving west-northwest on its present track, but longer-term models project that it will make a sharp turn to the north later this week, which could threaten parts of the Southeast, including Georgia.

Trash discarded in waterways kills fish and other aquatic life, and trash thrown out on roadsides is an eyesore that clogs drains and other infrastructure. To combat this problem, the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office in Camden County, Georgia, coordinates annual Rivers Alive cleanup events.

As Atlantic hurricane season peaks, Georgians may be uncertain about how to prepare for an emergency. The state may not be directly affected by a hurricane, floods or high winds from a storm this year, but it’s always good to be prepared. September is National Preparedness Month, and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency have resources available to help Georgians prepare for an emergency.

Molecular biologist and agricultural technology advocate Nina Fedoroff will visit the University of Georgia on Tuesday, Nov. 7, to deliver the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ D.W. Brooks Lecture at 3:30 p.m. in Mahler Hall at the UGA Center for Continuing Education and Hotel on the university's Athens campus.