Record flooding from Tropical Storm Eta this month caused severe damage to South Florida vegetable crops that were bound for holiday tables and could lead to shortages or price increases, experts say.
Some areas were inundated by up to two feet of rain as Eta slowed to a crawl off the state’s coast, particularly bad timing for farms that were in the midst of harvesting crops like sweet corn, green beans, lettuce, cabbage, radishes and more.
The cost of the damage to Florida’s crops is estimated to be between $85 million and $320 million, according to a report this week from the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. It’s too soon to know whether the losses will lead to price increases at the grocery story as suppliers scramble to find other possible sources of vegetables.
Read more at our news partner the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
