Fay Drenches Florida Citrus Industry

For Immediate Release: From Florida Citrus Mutual
LAKELAND, Fla. (August 20, 2008) – Tropical Storm Fay moved across the state Tuesday and Wednesday drenching the Florida citrus industry and sparing it of significant damage.
“We were very concerned as Fay approached the state. We’ve been through this a few too many times over the past four years,” said Michael W. Sparks, executive VP/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual. “Fortunately, the storm did not strengthen to a point where it could cause major damage to our crop.”
“We got much needed rain from the storm; however there are isolated pockets of standing water that could cause some problems, especially in the Indian River region where we’ve had reports of 13 inches of rain. Despite that situation, we came out of this in pretty good shape.”
Sparks said Fay did not cause a significant amount of fruit to drop to the ground. He said wind from the storm was not strong enough to uproot trees.
“This is a very fluid situation so we are still assessing the total impact,” Sparks said. Hopefully, this is the last major storm to hit Florida for a long time. The citrus harvest is right around the corner and we are primed for a good season and a quality crop.”
Founded in 1948 and currently representing nearly 8,000 grower members, Florida Citrus Mutual is the state’s largest citrus growers’ organization. For more information, please visit www.flcitrusmutual.com.

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