Hurricane Michael hit the Florida panhandle on Oct. 10 as a Category 4 storm with 155 mph winds, causing massive structural damage in coastal areas. Widespread flooding from a peak storm surge estimated at 9-14 feet inundated coastal communities such as Mexico Beach, Apalachee Bay, and Panama City.
The National Weather Service said Michael was entering the record books as the third most intense continental U.S. landfall by pressure, the fourth strongest by maximum sustained winds, and the most intense storm ever to strike the Florida panhandle.
Sources said the impact on cotton, peanut, and pecan crops in the storm’s path would be devastating. Peak wind gusts measured on Oct. 10-11 included 129 mph at Tyndall AFB in Florida, 115 mph in Donalsonville, Ga., 89 mph in Apalachicola, Fla., 70 mph in Albany, Ga., and 68 mph in Dothan, Ala.
Notable rainfall totals as of Oct. 11 included 5.26 inches in Sumatra, Fla., 5.54 inches in Ozark, Ala., 6.48 inches near Powder Springs, Ga., and 4.92 inches in Dothan, Ala. Even heavier amounts were reported as the storm lumbered through the Carolinas and Virginia, in many areas that were still reeling from Hurricane Florence in September.
One North Carolina source said his location was expecting 3-6 inches of rain from Michael. Precipitation totals on Oct. 11 included 6.01 inches in Hartsville, S.C., 6.75 inches near Boone, N.C., and up to 9.62 inches near Black Mountain, N.C. White Gate, Va., reported 5.75 inches of rain late on Oct. 11.
“The bad news is that it is coming right through some of the most productive farmland in the whole state,” one Georgia contact told Green Markets at midweek. “The cotton is largely defoliated in South Carolina, so there’ll be more damage to cotton,” added a Carolina contact. “If we get 50-60 mph winds, it’ll be gone.”
Michael was also threatening a number of fertilizer facilities. Nutrien Ltd. reported on Oct. 10 that its White Springs, Fla., phosphate production complex was in “preparation mode,” with operations shutting down at the mine and at some plants. Spokesman Will Tigley told Green Markets that Michael was “expected to have minimal impacts” to the company’s operations, however.
“The site is in the process of securing loose objects and materials,” Tigley said. “Staffing levels will be determined based on the forecast, with safe operations and the safety of our personnel top of mind.”
The Mosaic Co. also reported at midweek that its Florida operations were operating as normal as Michael approached. “The storm is moving west of our facilities, so we don’t expect impacts,” company spokesman Ben Pratt told Bloomberg.
Attempts to reach Big Bend Agri-Services Inc. in Cairo, Ga., were unsuccessful on Oct. 11. Sources with Florida Fertilizer Co., Wauchula, Fla., and Growers Fertilizer Corp., Lake Alfred, Fla., reported no impacts to their facilities from Michael, other than heavy rain and gusty winds at some locations. Florida Fertilizer’s facilities are primarily in central and southern Florida. Growers Fertilizer’s Newberry location is in northern Florida’s Alachua County, but the company’s other sites are in central Florida.
Cal-Maine Foods Inc., one of the country’s largest egg producers, closed down its Quincy, Fla., operations on Oct. 10. Chicken and egg farms across Georgia were also idled at midweek, with companies reportedly closing down operations early and relocating birds, Bloomberg reported.