Crops in Danger After Hurricane Helene Makes Landfall

USA Today staff reported Thursday that “Hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday night carrying catastrophic 140 mph winds as the first known Category 4 storm to hit Florida’s Big Bend region since records began in 1851.”

“Helene made landfall at about 11:10 p.m. ET near Perry, Florida. Hours later, the system weakened to a Category 1 storm and continued to produce hurricane-force winds as it moved toward Georgia,” USA Today staff reported. “…At least one fatality in Florida was blamed on the hurricane so far, authorities said. Officials feared more fatalities would be discovered on Friday, though it would likely be several hours before any rescue personnel could head out to help those in need.”

On Friday morning, USA Today’s Thao Nguyen, Christopher Cann and Trevor Hughes reported that “Helene weakened to a tropical storm as it barreled through Georgia early Friday, though it was still unleashing life-threatening storm surge, winds and flooding rain hours after a devastating landfall in the Big Bend coast of Florida.”

“Authorities in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas were rescuing residents trapped in rising floodwaters as Helene continues to dump heavy rain across the Southeast,” Nguyen, Cann and Hughes reported. “More than 2.5 million homes and businesses were without power from Florida to the Carolinas.”

Southeast Crops in Danger

The New York Times’ Kim Severson reported that “hurricane Helene is likely to damage tracts of farmland, just as the fall harvest is underway in Southern states like Georgia, sending farmers on a mission to salvage as much of their crops as possible before the storm lashes the region, they said.”

“The pecan crop is particularly vulnerable. Georgia produces 88 million pounds of pecans a year, more than any other state, according to the University of Georgia. The $400 million crop is mostly in the southern part of the state, which places it in the direct path of the storm,” Severson reported. “Farmers who are just starting to harvest nuts in anticipation of the holiday baking season are worried. The big concern is wind, which can both blow nuts off branches before they are harvested and knock down trees. The earliest varieties were already being harvested, but most of the crop is usually gathered in October. Unlike an almond tree, which can start bearing nuts in three to five years, some varieties of pecan trees can take up to 25 years to mature.”

In addition to Pecans, Agriculture Dive’s Sarah Zimmerman reported, “Georgia is the second-largest cotton producer in the United States, and Helene is ripping through just as harvest gets underway.”

“Strong winds and rain can soak cotton, rip stems and destroy bolls. Approximately 68% of Georgia’s cotton bolls have opened, according to USDA data, with less than 1% of the crop harvested,” Zimmerman reported. “The storm could also disrupt a slow-going start to the peanut harvest that has been challenged by drought conditions. While rain could provide a boost, it could also flood fields, saturate crops and promote the spread of plant disease.”

“Helene poses a danger to more than just crops,” Zimmerman reported. “Fast winds and deadly storm surges could destroy agricultural equipment and property, forcing farmers to spend potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild.“