By Clint Thompson
Flash flooding in central and southern Florida this week led to a state of emergency being declared by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. It’s also led to concerns for the region’s citrus producers who have started harvest season.
Steven Callaham, executive vice president and CEO of the Dundee Citrus Growers Association, talked about the flooding’s impact on trees in the region.
“From grove to grove it really varies. In Polk County in Central Florida, we’re six to 10 inches in the last 36 hours, depending on which grove you’re in,” Callaham said. “But as you go a little bit further south into Hardee County and even into Highlands County, we’ve got some numbers that are creeping up above 10 inches, and further into South Florida, there’s some that are in the mid to upper teens. It’s a tremendous amount of rain in a short period of time.
“I think central Florida we’re going to be fine. Our soils are well drained. They’ll be fine in another day or so. But I think in South Florida and on the east coast of Florida, they’re really going to have to continue working over the next day or two to try to get the water pumped off the groves. There’s a lot of standing water.”
Fort Pierce Flood
Peter Spyke, a consultant with Arapaho Citrus Management Inc. in Fort Pierce, Florida, posted a video on social media of his home grove block in standing water. It received 18 inches of rain in about 30 hours.
“The entire western St. Lucie and Indian River counties look just like this,” he said.
State of Emergency
DeSantis issued a state of emergency for multiple counties, including Brevard, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie.
Callaham is preaching patience this week amid the soaked conditions. Producers don’t need to exacerbate the situation by returning to the groves too quickly.
“For us, with the majority of our groves being located in central Florida, we are so well drained that six, eight inches of rain is a lot, but we stayed out of the groves, and you knock off the harvesting for a couple of days. That moisture is pretty well drained out and gone,” Callaham said. “I think it’s just being patient for a couple of days before you get back in your groves and harvesting.”