HomeMy WebLinkAboutIn the Wake of Amelia 09.01.1978 IN THE WAKE OF AMELIA
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In this satellite photo, remnants of Tropica Storm Amelia blot out the center of
Texas. The storm carried heavy rains that tri flooding and severely damaged
isolated sections of the State.
"The immediate local losses were 2- to 3 -day span completely
disastrous; well just have to wait to saturated areas far behind their
see its effect on the future." normal rainfalls of 20 to 25 inches a
That is John Heatly's assessment year. For example, points in:
of the impact of mid - summer's Kerr County - 22 inches
tropical Storm Amelia, which crash- Haskell County - 24 inches
ed into dust dry areas of southern Shackelford County 30 inches
and central Texas. Heatly, executive Wil Walther, statistician in charge
di of the Agricultural of the Texas Crop and Live
Stabilization and Conservation Ser- stock Reporting Service says, "The
vice (ASCS) office in Texas' hard -hit situation went from one extreme to
Shackelford County, painted a dis the other. The problems of serious
mal picture serious
cropland and live- drought turned to the problems of
stock destruction. heavy rain."
In late July an easterly storm As with all storms, damage
wave formed in t he Caribbean, patterns were erratic. Within a 100
slipped over Mexico's Yucatan mile radius of San Antonio in south
Peninsula and headed toward the Texas hill country, the rain fell hard
Texas coast. Upon reaching the but much of it on rangeland. Though
mainland, the storm's energy dis- much of the Texas cotton and
sipated, prompting the National sorghum crops escaped serious in-
Weather Service to remove "tropical jury in the area, some growers felt
storm" status. However, an the full fury of Amelia. In some
accompanying flow of moist Gulf air counties farther north, crop damage
persisted, carrying record rains to was nearly total.
portions of the Lone Star State. The dryness had hurt crop gro
The amount of water collected in a where the rolling plains meet the
6 Agricultural Situation
A field of grain sorghum li virtually dest and th land severely e roded after
flood waters raced through Shackelford County. Five to six inches of topsoil were lost
in this area.
north central prairie near Abilene. from the ground. Two tons per acre
Drenching rains completed what the of hay and grazing were lost on 7.0
drought had begun. percent of the land. Pastures in
Heatly explains, "We were worry- Haskell County tallied $6.6 million
ing about drought loss when the damage.
rains hit. Of nearly 4,100 acres of Carolyn Pippin, administrative
Shackelford County cotton, we had assistant in the Haskell County
projected about a 60- percent loss to ASCS office: "I couldn't believe the
drought. The rain made it a total loss damage caused by Rice Springs
of $720,000." (which flows through Haskell). That
The ASCS office in adjacent little creek ' dry most of the time."
Haskell County turned in a similar USDA officials in Texas are busy
report: Of 160,000 acres put to processing damage reports from
cotton, 70 percent of the crop is gone local farmers seeking Federal
from both drought and flooding, assistance to recover and rebuild.
with losses of more than $25.2 One form of government aid will
million. Both county offices gave a probably be distributed as cost
bleak account for the 1978 grain sor- shares under emergency conser-
ghum harvest— little or none at all vation measures. The program calls
with a projected earnings loss of for Federal funds to cover up to 80
more than $1.3 million. percent of the value of structures
Farmers of Shackelford County and land before Amelia. But 1979
suffered more than a million dollars may not bring an end to the storm's
damage to structural and cropland impact. Some sections lost large
assets, and a quarter million dollars amounts of topsoil, enough to make
in livestock losses. Amelia ripped it difficult to plant next year, and
500 miles of the county's fencing possibly years to come.
September 1978 7