By Stephanie Schupska
University of
Georgia
Heavy rain plus more heavy rain usually equals flooding. That’s
just what Hurricane Dennis brought to Georgia on July 10. And
flooding was just one of many problems.
“A large part of the problem, particularly across north Georgia,
is the fact that the area got inundated a few days earlier by
Cindy,” said state climatologist David Stooksbury. “There was not
much buffering left in the system. Once it started raining, the
water didn’t have many places left to go.”
The flooding was bad. On July 13, Gov. Sonny Perdue requested
disaster assistance from the Small Business Administration for
Cherokee, Cobb, Colquitt, Douglas and Worth counties due to
Dennis’ impact. The assistance, if approved, would provide
low-interest loans to homeowners, renters and businesses.
“State and local emergency management assessment teams have
reported that many homes and businesses have sustained
significant damage,” Perdue said in a press release. “We hope to
make this assistance available as soon as possible.”
There’s more
While the SBA loans may be offered to those affected in these
five counties, Dennis’ effects weren’t limited to homes and
businesses. So far, Georgia crops most damaged include pecans,
peaches, corn, hay, vegetables and tobacco, Perdue said.
Georgia Pecan Commission chairman Charles “Buddy” Leger, who is
also a south Georgia grower, said he lost 5 percent to 10 percent
of this year’s crop “because, at this stage, when the wind whips
the limbs around, the nuts will come off.”
But Leger has seen worse from tropical storms. “Last year we had
a direct hit,” he said. “This year we were on the fringe.
Basically, all we got was water and wind.”
Peaches
Whipping winds sent peach limbs swinging, too, puncturing the
fruit. But that’s only a part of this year’s peach crop woes.
“Peaches have been hit hard all year,” said Frank Funderburk
Peach County coordinator with the University of Georgia Extension
Service. “All year long we’ve had rain, and disease problems have
been worse than normal.”
Peach County is Georgia’s top peach-producing county. Mostly
because of heavy spring rains, growers there have “had increased
diseases on varieties we didn’t suspect would have disease,”
Funderburk said.
Dennis hit the state’s watermelon and cantaloupe crops, too.
If the state meets the minimum criteria for disaster aid, Perdue
will ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture for assistance.
While this hurricane season has been predicted to be more active
than last year’s, “we can’t read any more into it,” Stooksbury
said. “It’s abnormal to have this many tropical storms this early
in the season. Abnormal events do occur, though.”
(Stephanie Schupska is a news editor with the University of
Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)
