Last week’s storms washed out a road, toppled trees, and flooded fields, she said. Terry, with the Conway farm, said they’ve launched a GoFundMe to raise $85,000, which is needed to cover losses and the cost of repairs. Thunderstorms are likely on Friday, forecasters said. Showers and thunderstorms will likely roll in during the afternoon, and more storms could arrive during the evening.Īfter a respite from rain Wednesday, there is a chance of showers Thursday during the day and evening. While no rain is anticipated Monday, forecasters predict rainfall on Tuesday. The forecast for the coming week in Western Massachusetts indicates more wet weather. He said state and federal governments must do more to help farms, including launching a dedicated disaster relief fund to support them now and during future crises. Farmers had no real opportunity to protect crops.” “It seems pretty obvious that weather patterns have changed dramatically, and we don’t yet know what that new pattern is,” Korman said. Philip Korman, executive director of Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, which works with about 250 farms in central and western Massachusetts, said farms are facing weather changes that are increasingly harder to predict. The state has set up a website for people and businesses seeking help to recover from this month’s storm activity. Healey toured storm damage in western Massachusetts on Wednesday and is expected to visit farms affected by the storm again this week, according to her office. “We are continuing to assess the scale of the ongoing damage and working closely with our federal partners to identify badly needed funding assistance that may be available.” “We have been in constant contact with farms, other institutions in our local food supply chain, and local officials, with several members of our administration visiting impacted farms over the past week,” Hand said. Karissa Hand, a spokesperson for Governor Maura Healey, said Healey and Driscoll are concerned about the damage farms have sustained. “I’m deeply concerned about both the immediate crop loss and also the long-term impact, and working with state and federal officials to explore recovery resources,” she said.Īt least 75 farms have been affected by the storms, with more than 1,000 acres of crop losses, according to the state Department of Agricultural Resources. Last week, storms damaged scores of farms in Western Massachusetts, ruining crops, washing out roads, and leaving some spots inaccessible due to standing water. There were about 970 outages by late Sunday night. At one point during the morning, more than 3,300 customers lost power, according to the state’s emergency management agency. to Maine, as well as parts of New York and Pennsylvania - with heavy rain and spurred flash flood warnings, according to the weather service.Ī tornado watch was in place for most of Massachusetts on Sunday until to 3 p.m. The volatile weather was part of storm activity that soaked the East Coast - from Washington D.C. “A lot of the things that we had in the ground were lost, there’s absolutely no way for us to even try to replant them.” “It’s completely catastrophic to our business this year,” Terry said. Brittany Terry, the farm manager at Natural Roots Farm in Conway, said the storms have caused an estimated $100,000 in losses, plus tens of thousands more in cleanup and repair costs.
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