A UF/IFAS report released Tuesday showed Hurricane Helene caused between $40.3 to $162.2 million in damage to Florida’s agricultural production.
According to the release, the UF/IFAS Economic Impact Analysis Program (EIAP) is based on multiple sets of baseline data from surveys that UF/IFAS economists distributed to producers.
Helene, a Category 4 storm, hit Florida on Sept. 26 and made landfall near Perry. It brought tropical-storm-force winds to 55 of Florida’s 67 counties and hurricane conditions to eight others: Dixie, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor and Wakulla.
The report stated Helene affected over 6 million acres of agricultural land statewide. The land produces an estimated $8.7 billion in agricultural products over multiple growing seasons and 68% of the affected land is used for animal grazing.
Hurricane Debby, a Category 1 storm that made landfall on Aug. 5 near Steinhatchee, impacted 2.2 million acres and resulted in production losses of around $170 million.
“Debby, despite being a weaker storm in terms of wind, resulted in greater agricultural losses than Helene due to heavier rainfall and more extensive flooding, some of which affected areas that grow or raise higher-value products,” said Xiaohui Qiao, EIAP research assistant professor, in the press release.
The majority of lands affected by Helene – 99.6% – experienced low-intensity weather conditions.
The report stated agricultural operations in the Big Bend region – especially in Franklin, Gulf and Liberty counties – experienced the most intense rainfall, 12 inches between Sept. 23 and 29. Helene caused widespread storm surge on the Gulf Coast, with barrier islands and part of the coastline recording as much as 15 feet of flooding. Inland, estimated flood depth generally reached between 1 foot and 2 feet.
Powerful winds are responsible for a large percentage of agricultural losses caused by Helene. The storm flattened and stripped crops, damaged irrigation systems and fences and caused power outages.
The estimated range of annual production losses for the current growing or marketing season for select commodity groups include:
- Field and row crops: $12.8 million to $48.2 million
- Animals and animal products: $11.8 million to $44.4 million
- Vegetables, melons and potatoes: $10.5 million and $38.2 million
UF/IFAS EIAP reports rely on agricultural producers’ survey responses. Along with improving public understanding of the economic importance of agriculture, the information collected is used to improve the industry’s resilience by informing disaster response and recovery, emergency planning exercises and policy discussions.
This year’s overly active hurricane season has prolonged the assessment process, said Christa Court, UF/IFAS EIAP director in the press release.
“Helene made landfall only eight weeks after Hurricane Debby, in the same region of the state, and we had to modify our methods to ensure that we were not double counting and overestimating production losses,” Court said in the press release. “Hurricane Milton, which made landfall just under two weeks after Helene and was associated with an outbreak of tornadic activity, has resulted in additional complications that we are now managing in our assessment of that event.”
Milton made landfall on Oct. 9 near Siesta Key. The EIAP’s preliminary report detailing impacts from the Category 5 storm is forthcoming.
Report impacts from Hurricane Helene and access the economists’ preliminary report on the EIAP website.