Estimates of Financial Costs to Growers as a Result of Hurricane Irma

摘要

On 7 September 2017, Hurricane Irma was located southeast of Miami-Dade County and tied for the second strongest Atlantic storm of all time as a Category 5 storm with 185 mph winds. It was the first Atlantic storm to ever sustain this strength for 24hours. As Irma approached mainland Florida, the most vulnerable residents of Miami-Dade County were placed under mandatory evacuation orders, while avocado and other tropical fruit growers in South Florida began to prepare for the worst. On 10 and 11 September 2017, Hurricane Irma grazed Miami-Dade County and made landfall as a Category 3 storm on the west coast of Florida just south of Naples in Marco Island. The sheer size and slow pace of Irma, however, allowed powerful and damaging winds to pummel the tropical fruit growers of South Florida and their trees for more than 15 hours. Sustained high winds and wet conditions caused a high number of trees to become uprooted or structurally damaged. In the days following Irma, it was estimated that 50% ofMiami-Dade County’s 7600 acres of avocados had already been harvested before the storm hit but there was an 80 to 90% fruit loss of the remaining crop. This study looked at the economic effects of Hurricane Irma on the avocado industry by surveying sixof the largest avocado growers by acreage. Rehabilitation cost of trees, crop loss, and collateral damage by the deadly avocado disease laurel wilt was surveyed and calculated.