Rare Supersized Hail Destroys Crops At Local Vegetable Farm

March 29, 2023

Supersized hail lashed  a portion of the North Escambia area early Tuesday morning, destroying all of the crops at a Davisville produce farm.

Maeday Farm on Highway 97 in Davisville, about a mile south of Atmore, lost all of their remaining winter vegetables and everything they had planted for spring, according to co-founder Steven Elliot. Hail they estimated to be between golf ball to ping pong ball size beat all of the vegetables into the ground, including lettuce, radicchio,  green onions, kale, spinach, cucumbers, squash and zucchini. Their animals and structures like greenhouses were not damaged.

Steven Elliot and his wife Meredith Elliot typically sell their produce at the Palafox Market in Pensacola, but they won’t be there for several weeks and they regroup and plan how to move forward.

“It was a big loss with everything gone in just a few minutes,” Steven Elliot said.

The supersized for Florida hail fell in an area along and within a few miles of the Alabama/Florida line just after 2 a.m. Tuesday.  Some of the hail was documented to be about 2.5 inches, which the weather service calls tennis ball sized.

“I’d say that hail size is crazy big for here. Not sure I’ve seen it that big in 20 years,” WEAR 3 meteorologist Allen Strum said. He said a typical severe thunderstorm with large hail would have hail of one inch or larger.

Escambia County, Florida, officials said no damage was reported to the county or emergency services.

Pictured: Radishes (top photo), radicchio (first below) along with Swiss chard and kale (second below) were among the produce destroyed early Tuesday morning by large hail and Maedae Farms on Highway 97 in Davisville. Pictured inset and bottom: Some of the rare supersized hail that fell in the North Escambia area. Photos for NorhEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

3 Responses to “Rare Supersized Hail Destroys Crops At Local Vegetable Farm”

  1. Concerned on March 30th, 2023 11:44 am

    So sorry that you lost produce. My prayers you can move forward.

  2. Margielu on March 29th, 2023 4:45 pm

    What a horrible loss for the farm and family and their customers. I hope there is some salvageable produce, even if it can be sold as blemished goods. I’d buy it, yes I would, and eat what we can and share the rest with our livestock.

  3. Silent Observer on March 29th, 2023 11:22 am

    This is terrible for this small family farm. They are so faithful and dedicated to growing the best crops. So sorry for the loss of your crops.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News