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Lorca requests hail-damaged area be declared a catastrophic zone
All the watermelon crops in Tercia, Marchena and La Hoya have been lost in the recent storms
This is “a disaster,” declared Region of Murcia president, Fernando Lopez Miras, when he visited the watermelon farms in the Lorca district of Tercia that were completely destroyed by a hail shower storm that battered the area’s farmland on Saturday May 13.
After seeing the devastation for himself, the president confirmed he would request that the central government declare the entire affected area as a catastrophic zone, which will also extend through farmland in Marchena and La Hoya.
Farmers "were already having a hard time" due to the drought, the rise in production costs and the cut in the Transfer and "hail is now added to all this," López Miras said.
Categorising parts of the Lorca municipality as a catastrophic zone will free up some much needed cash for the farmers, many of whom have lost their entire harvest.
Un trabajo duro, ingrato, poco valorado y además sometido siempre a las inclemencias climatológicas. Ayer en Tercia (Lorca) este agricultor veía desolado como desaparecía su producción en unos minutos. Me asombra su serenidad. Estas sandías ya no estarán en los lineales. pic.twitter.com/LdEX4gfzcw
— Adela Martínez-Cachá (@AdelaMCacha) May 14, 2023
It’s still too early for agricultural workers to put an exact figure on the damage, but the hail has also destroyed broccoli, artichoke and lettuce crops.
"This is a catastrophe, there are hundreds of thousands of hectares lost," said the president of Lorca’s COAG branch, Plácido Pérez Chuecos, adding that "there are farmers who have lost everything, they are not going to have any production this summer."
The freak hailstorm caused havoc all across Lorca, and the ice was still visible in the countryside fields the following day, making it impossible for farmers to ascertain the true extent of their losses.
"The heavy rains yesterday afternoon in Lorca also caused incidents, for example, on the old Águilas road that was completely flooded by water, making it difficult for the vehicles of the residents of these areas to pass through, above all, from the districts of Campillo and Purias,” the mayor explained.
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Image: Ayuntamiento de Lorca
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