Although no longer a hurricane, Matthew is still causing problems for the southeastern US. The eastern part of North Carolina will deal with devastating flooding for several days as rivers top their banks. Matthew attacked Florida’s coast on Friday morning and moved up north parallel to the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas. The hurricane killed at least 17 people in four states - seven in North Carolina, four in Florida, three in Georgia and three in South Carolina, according to authorities.
Citrus trees lost fruit
It is too early to tell what the full impact of the storm will be, but first reports from Florida contain relatively limited damage. “We were fortunate the storm stayed East of us,” says Robert Thomas with Premier Citrus Packers in Vero Beach, FL. “The groves fared well even though we lost some fruit,” Thomas added. Everyone at Premier Citrus Packers is safe.
Matthew caused fruit to fall off trees. Photo credit: Robert Thomas
Vegetables sustained minor damage
“The damage our produce suffered was light, to be honest,” said Rick Stauffer of Seminole Produce Distributing in Sanford, FL. “Our veggies are still in the immature stage at this point. We seem to have dodged a bullet, but it’s a bit too early to tell. Our suppliers need to get into the fields so they can get a more accurate idea of how much damage the hurricane left behind.”
Stauffer went on to say, “The hurricane was supposed to make more of a straight line up north, but it veered east about 20 miles. We’re 20 miles inland from the coast and we got rain and 70 to 80 mile-per-hour winds. Some of our farms on the east side, by the coast, are reporting fruit drop. North of us, in North Carolina, the damage and flooding are much more extensive. However, those farms are nearly finished with their harvesting.”
We will publish updated information as it becomes available over the next few days.
For more information:
Robert Thomas
Premier Citrus Packers
Rick Stauffer
Seminole Produce Distributing, Inc.
Tel: +1 407-322-7785