By Clint Thompson
Hurricane Isaias’ trek through the Southeast soaked much of Southwest Georgia this past weekend, which had already experienced increased moisture the prior week.
The storm impacted much of the fall vegetable crops which are in the ground, says Chris Butts, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA). He advises his growers about proper steps that need to be taken before and after a major storm.
“It is always having documentation and photographs. Now it’s so easy to take pictures with your phones, but documentation and photographs of any damage that you’ve got. That time and date stamp on them is helpful, too,” Butts said.
Never Too Much Documentation
Isaias was the first major storm to impact parts of Georgia since Hurricane Helene in Sept. 2024. As growers learned then and will continue to learn with future storms, they can never have too much documentation to submit for any financial assistance.
“You can’t (have enough) because we never know exactly what those programs are going to require. If we go in knowing that we’ve got to have the full evidence, so to speak, just to back up the damage that has suffered, that’s what we need,” Butts said. “Always safety first. Don’t put yourself in a position where you could be harmed. But get that documentation, get those photos, get a time and date stamp on it, and then be ready to reach out to your FSA office.”
Fall vegetables were especially at risk with the storm and its excessive rains.
“All vegetables are in the ground. There’s a lot of harvest happening now, and we’ve got fields that are being picked now, and those aren’t going to be able to be picked if we’ve gotten too much rain,” Butts said. “I think we need to dry out from this one and finish the harvest and move on. We’ll certainly take some rain and some moisture. We need it, but if we can stay away from excessive amounts as we’ve got these vegetables in the field, that would be very helpful.”