Tropical Storm Edouard looks to bypass agricultural regions
August 3, 2008
Tropical Storm Edouard was gaining strength today (Aug. 4) as it headed toward Texas and an anticipated date with the coastline Tuesday, Aug. 5.
"At this point, it appears as if it is going to hit landfall pretty far north," said John McClung of the Texas Produce Association. "They are anticipating that it will hit between Corpus Christi and Houston or maybe even north of that toward Louisiana."
He said that there is very little if any commercial fresh fruit and vegetable production in that region, and little rain has been forecast for the agriculturally rich Rio Grande Valley.
That is a good thing as there is still standing water from Hurricane Dolly, which drenched the valley late last month. Hurricane Dolly ripped through south Texas causing some damage to citrus tress, stripping as much as 20 percent of the crop in the most western groves nearest the Gulf Coast. In total, the Texas grapefruit crop might be down in volume more than 10 percent this fall because of that storm.
At this point, Tropical Storm Edouard may cause more damage to Texas, especially the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, but the agricultural regions appear as if they will be spared.
"At this point, it appears as if it is going to hit landfall pretty far north," said John McClung of the Texas Produce Association. "They are anticipating that it will hit between Corpus Christi and Houston or maybe even north of that toward Louisiana."
He said that there is very little if any commercial fresh fruit and vegetable production in that region, and little rain has been forecast for the agriculturally rich Rio Grande Valley.
That is a good thing as there is still standing water from Hurricane Dolly, which drenched the valley late last month. Hurricane Dolly ripped through south Texas causing some damage to citrus tress, stripping as much as 20 percent of the crop in the most western groves nearest the Gulf Coast. In total, the Texas grapefruit crop might be down in volume more than 10 percent this fall because of that storm.
At this point, Tropical Storm Edouard may cause more damage to Texas, especially the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, but the agricultural regions appear as if they will be spared.
