With over $61 million in agricultural losses, Grayson County was hardest-hit by the hurricane, sustaining over 38 percent of Virginia’s total damage. Its neighboring counties, Wythe, Smyth, Washington, and Carroll, together sustained 80 percent of the state’s total agricultural damage.
Brantley Ivey, manager of River Ridge Farm, surveys an 80-yard pile of debris left on his farm by flooding from Hurricane Helene. Photo by Marya Barlow for Virginia Tech.
Piles of debris and decimated crops were left scattered across River Ridge Farm in Grayson County after the New River flooded far above its banks. Photos by Marya Barlow for Virginia Tech.
“There are hay fields that have 2 feet of sand on them. What was a green field now looks like a beach,” Agent Spurlin said. “You can’t go back in and re-establish crops on that land. We’ve got to bring that land back into productivity.”
During the week after the storm, the Southwest Virginia 4-H Center offered a refuge for 140 linemen performing repairs and restoring power in the area. 4-H Center staff and volunteers quickly mobilized to provide bedding, meals, laundry service, and cabin cleaning for the linemen.
Volunteers started each day at 3 a.m. making breakfast, which included 420 eggs, 280 biscuits with gravy, bacon, and sausage, and 23 pots of coffee. Meals, including boxed lunches, had to be over 3,000 calories to sustain the line workers through long, grueling days.
At an old Vaughn Furniture warehouse in Galax, county officials and other agents collected donations of hay, feed, fencing, chainsaws, and other crucial supplies that were distributed to farmers in need.
“Even though it’s a Band-Aid on a big cut, these donations are a tangible benefit that we can provide to our community now,” he said. “It fills an immediate need while they wait to see what insurance and federal programs and reimbursements are going to cover.”
He added that long-term, help with debris removal and putting up fencing will be farmers’ greatest need.
4-H’ers from Smyth County helped deliver hay to a local farm. Photo courtesy of Andy Overbay.