On September 23, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida. It was the deadliest hurricane to strike the state since 1935. Florida’s rural counties are more vulnerable to hurricane impacts because their economies are typically tied to just one or two sectors—agriculture and tourism.
The Environmental Defense Fund in Florida (EDF FL) has collaborated with Earth Economics to produce two factsheets to illustrate the complex impacts of hurricanes and tropical storms on rural counties. These include: wind and flood damages to both natural and built capital, saltwater intrusion, income losses, energy insecurity, and impacts on the cost of living. The factsheets highlight impacts on two important industries for rural Florida, tourism and agriculture. Safeguarding the quality of life throughout the state will require comprehensive climate resilience planning that includes rural voices and addresses rural concerns.
The first factsheet focuses on hurricane impacts to rural tourism. Hurricanes can make destinations less desirable by damaging the amenities and infrastructure services that attract tourists. These impacts often persist—recent research found that affected counties lost an average of $10.1M during hurricane months, $12.2M the following month, and $6.9M two months after landfall.
The second factsheet considers impacts on agriculture in rural counties. Hurricanes often have broad impacts, including flooding and wind damage to crops and infrastructure, and power loss at cold-storage facilities. Researchers estimated that statewide crop losses from Hurricane Ian were over $2B, with rural counties accounting for 37% of the total, despite having only 6 percent of the state’s population.
