Georgia farmers fear for potential impact Hurricane Ian may have on state’s agriculture

ATLANTA — Georgia farmers and growers are bracing for Ian’s impact and crossing their fingers it’s nothing like Hurricane Michael just four years ago.

Georgia’s agriculture industry had $2 billion in losses.

Channel 2′s Richard Elliott continued our live Severe Weather Team 2 coverage in northwest Atlanta.

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People always forget…it’s not banking, movie making or software. Agriculture is far and away Georgia’s number one industry.

The state is still recovering from Hurricane Michael. Ian isn’t Michael but it still has a lot people nervous.

Drone video showed the utter devastation left behind after Hurricane Michael rolled through South Georgia in 2018.

Hurricane Michael left 28,000 acres destroyed and won’t come back for decades.

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Elliott spoke with agriculture commissioner Gary Black about the concerns every South Georgia farmer and grower has watching the track of Hurricane Ian.

In addition to helping agriculture, they’re also in charge of making sure the gas supply isn’t contaminated after the storm…and food safety teams will fan out to make sure grocery stores are cleared to reopen after potentially losing power for days.

Black says torrential rains would hurt crops like peanuts and soybeans. Heavy winds could, once again, destroy timber, pecan trees and cotton.

“We’re certainly going to have; you would expect double digit winds. We just don’t know if that first digit is a one or two or a five or six,” Black said.

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Three years ago, Mitchell County grower Lanier Worsham showed Elliott the devastation Michael left behind.

Georgia lost half a billion in cotton crops as the hurricane hit right at harvest time.

It’s harvest time again in south Georgia and Black says everyone is moving as quickly as they can to get as much off the plants as they can.

“We’re blessed with a great crop this time.  Let’s just hope we can get it out,” Black said.

Georgia agriculture is also busy taking in horses and companion animals from Florida.

They’re heading for special facilities across the state to get them out of harm’s way.

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