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Hurricane Update from ECHO
October 25, 2005
The short story
- we were hit but were not in the eye of the storm
- we got over eight inches of rain
- no one was hurt
- property damage is so minimal we'll not even make an insurance claim
- there was considerable damage to plants but not nearly as much as last year
- the conference in two weeks will not be impacted.
- IMAGES Below
The longer story.
The north edge of the very large eye (about 60 miles I've heard) of the hurricane went over Naples, so the worst of the storm was south of us. Storm surge only occurs if the eye hits or goes a bit north of one's location so we neither ECHO nor our staff worried about storm surge, except for the possibility the storm might have changed direction like it did with hurricane Charlie.
The drainage ditches along the roads are as full as I've seen them in a long time. However the farm drained exceptionally well. It has excellent drainage ditches and the elevation of plots has risen over the years using purchased soil or excavating ponds. A small work team from Sardis Presbyterian Church in North Carolina was here and helped us prepare for the storm.
Staff members who live in manufactured houses stayed in the library. The office buildings are exceptionally solid and built high enough that even the worst of storms should bring enough water to flood the buildings. Interns stayed in the new Africa House that was built to the highest hurricane standards of any building on the property.
We have checked the various trailers that ECHO owns and found only minimal damage to one. Our new sign (made to replace the one destroyed by hurricane Charlie and paid for in part by insurance money from that sign) was put up less than a week before the latest hurricane decided to visit us. It is beautiful, large and sturdy and suffered no damage.
It is always discouraging going through the farm and seeing trees that are down or partially down. It is not nearly as bad as last year (in part because no plant at ECHO had ever seen a hurricane before Charlie and many were at risk.) A small work team was here to help us get ready. The semi-arid part of the farm is especially hard hit, with most field crops blown over and destroyed. Probably 80% of bananas were destroyed or badly damaged, but they'll come back next year. (That's what we said after Charlie and were just starting to eat bananas from pups that grew after Charlie). But the educational value of the farm is not greatly diminished and the seedbank's need for seed not greatly impacted.
The conference begins two weeks from today (Tuesday). We normally try to make everything look as perfect as possible. I told farm staff to concentrate their limited time to parts of the farm with special educational value and to ensuring safety in the public walkways. Delegates will understand if they see a row of bananas that have blown over and not yet been straightened or a fruit tree that has not yet been resurrected and staked for a new shot at life at ECHO. The hotel is in fine shape. I really don't think the conference will be adversely affected in any way.
Martin Price
