Hurricane Andrew Damages Tropical Fruit Crops in South Florida

Abstract

On 24 August, 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida’s tropical fruit production area with sustained winds of 230 kph and gusts exceeding 280 kph. Damage to Fruit crops included defruiting, defoliation, limb and trunk breakage, windthrowing (uprooting), sunburning and the stripping of bark from the trunks and limbs by flying debris. In general, older and taller trees were more severely damaged than younger and shorter trees. Selective limb removal, topping and other pruning practices that reduced overall tree height and opened up the canopy greatly reduced the occurrence of windthrow and severe breakage. Severe damage occurred on lime, mango, passion fruit, lychee, longan and sapodilla; damage was moderate on atemoya, avocado, banana, coconut, mamey sapote, papaya and sugar apple; and light damage occurred on carambola and guava. The full extent of injury cannot yet be determined as additional losses will occur due to the direct trauma of the hurricane, insects and diseases, cold temperatures and drought.