Tammi's World

Another Part of the Story

What hasn't really been talked about in regards to Charley and the damage that has been seen, is the agicultural hit that will be taken.

Here is a link to the Miami Heralod story that touches on this point. (registration required: email is nopass@nopass.com; password, nopass- thanks to bugmenot).

A few facts:

Agriculture is the 2nd largest business in Florida, behind tourism.

The seven counties hardest hit by this storm produce 35% of Florida's citrus crop. Foks - 35% or the oranges and grapefruit grown for orange juice and the produce stands in YOUR local grocery stores. Also, much of that is also distributed world wide. What was destroyed was next years crop.

Also - did you know that Florida is a huge player in the cattle market? Yeah, in DeSoto county alone the herds were valued at $40 million. And that's just one county. These figures will only get worse as we move past the human emergencies and start looking at the bigger picture. They are reporting that the larger cattle farms are looking alright at this point, but it's hard to tell with the communication problems currently being experienced.

But let me just give you a glimpse of what we could see. In the small town of Arcadia, located in DeSoto county the citrus crop is valued at approx. $100 million and they think 60%-70% of that crop is destroyed. Add to that the number of small cattle farms that were hit so hard and it is almost over whelming. It IS for those that were hit the hardest. Yes, there is insurance, but many of these people were just getting by. To start all over again takes time. And that makes for a very long haul.

Posted by Tammi at August 16, 2004 07:00 AM | TrackBack