Some farms flooded to ‘total loss’ after early-week rains
Jon Galenski’s land in South Deerfield was no exception to the widespread damage torrential rains inflicted on farms acrosswestern Massachusetts earlier this week.
The farm, which butts up against the Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers, lost about 120 acres of sweet corn, cabbage, winter squash, and pumpkins. That damage, Galenski said, accounts for about a fifth or sixth of all the crops he planted with his brother on their operation.
“All the fields are in a lot of low-lying areas, and it just flooded everything out,” Galenski told the Herald by phone on Saturday.
Severe stormsinundated at least 75 farms this week and destroyed more than 1,000 acres of crops throughout the state, according to state officials. But the true extent of the pain from the rainfall andfloods is still beingdetermined, and long-term crop loss couldmake the financial impact even worse.
Rainfall totals for the Berkshires and north of Springfield ranged from two inches nearworcester County up to six inches further west, said Bill Leatham, ameteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norton. Farmers have been left anxiously waiting to see what they can save, if anything, withmore rain expected Sunday.
Farmers have reported damage on the scale of a few acres to hundreds, said Massachusetts department ofagricultural Resources Commissioners Ashley Rand le. It ledsome inthecommunity to recall Hurricane Irene in August 2011.
“Because of that timing, most of their crops had already been harvested, because that was in August, or at least a good portion of their crops,” Randle told the Herald. “And with this, the July timeframe is just really tricky because you’re right in the middle, getting close to harvest, but many of the farms haven’t reached that point yet.”
Galenski’s fields along the Deerfieldriver — a tributary to the Connecticut River — were hit hard. Aerial photos shared with the Herald show flooded fields, including some that are almost entirely covered in water.
“When the Connecticut fills up like it did, the Deerfield starts to back up because it’s not allowed to keep dumping into the Connecticut,” he said. “It kind of gets moving so fast going downstream. So what happens is it starts backing up and it backs up into the fields.”
A respite from the rain looks unlikely, forecasters said Saturday. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for most of Massachusetts, including counties out west, for late Saturday night into Sunday night.
Leatham said weather across the state this week will feature daily chances for showers and thunderstorms. That comes after heavy downpours soaked most of the state, damaging farms and leaving many in New England in dangerous situations.
Sunday could bring “widespread” showersandthunderstorms that could produce some flooding, Leathamsaid. A National Weather Service advisory said excessive runoff could result in the flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, andother low-lyingandfloodprone locations.
Leatham said Wednesday might be the only day where there is the possibility for “completely dry weather.”
“But most of the days, there’s at least going to be chances for showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon,” he told the Heraldsaturdaymorning. “We’re just still kind of stuck in that same pattern thatwe’ve been stuck in for a while here.”
Rep. Natalie Blais, a Sunderland Democrat, visited Galenski’s farm Saturday morning with Sen. Jo Comerford, anorthamptondemocrat. Some farmers like Galenski may not know the total damage from the earlier rainfalls for some time, Blais said.
“We don’t know what’s coming down the road in terms of mold growth,” Blais told theherald. “I thinkwe’re in a wait-and-see game in terms of how much the actual financial losses are here.”