Workers caught between two storms

By Michael Wacht

HOMESTEAD — Last month’s Hurricane Irene destroyed almost 20 percent of Florida’s citrus crop and 90 percent of south Florida’s winter vegetable crop, according to Florida Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford.

Hurricane Floyd caused the worst flooding ever in eastern North Carolina last September, and damage to the state’s agriculture could exceed the $872 million record set by Hurricane Fran, according to a story by the United Methodist News Service.

In between the two storms are tens of thousands of migrant and seasonal farm workers whose only livelihood has dried up in the midst of record-breaking flooding, according to Bill Rhan, the Florida Conference’s disaster response coordinator.

“The farm workers go between here [south Florida] and North Carolina,” he said. “They spent the money they’ve saved to travel up there. When they find there’s no product up there to pick…they come home with what little money they have left over and discover they don’t have work in Florida.”

The fields in south Florida are flooded with up to 18 inches of rain from Irene, so farmers can’t harvest or plant for the next harvest. That means many of the workers who came to south Florida have nothing to do, a situation the Rev. David Beers, pastor of Silver Palm United Methodist Church in Homestead and disaster response coordinator for the Miami District, says will last at least until the end of the year.

“The crisis is with the farm workers — migrant workers, temporary workers — who depend on their ability to pick crops,” he said. “Many of the poorest people in Dade County now have no income or food. Until the crops come in, there’s not a lot of work to do.”

The first step in responding is assessing people’s needs, Beers said, adding that the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), American Red Cross, and Catholic and Lutheran churches are helping people recover.

“There are lots of resources here,” he said. “The goal of the United Methodist Church is to fill the gaps where people’s needs aren’t being met.”

The biggest need Rhan sees is getting food to people who are afraid to ask for help from the government. “Most of the farm workers are hesitant to apply to FEMA if they qualify at all,” he said. “Many are here on work permits from Latin America, and they don’t want to talk to the government.”

With the help of Kim King-Torres, a Church and Community worker with the General Board of Global Ministries who is working with Florida City United Methodist Church in Homestead, and the American Red Cross, volunteers at Florida City are handing out food vouchers to people who need them. On the first day of operation, nearly 500 showed up for vouchers.

“We don’t ask about their status,” Beers said. “We don’t want to know if they’re legal or not. These are farm workers who are marginalized anyway. They don’t have anyplace else to go, and some of them…are afraid of being caught and deported.”

In the meantime, Beers says he is working with the United Methodist Committee on Relief and United Methodist Volunteers in Mission to get more food resources into the area.

“The Red Cross will be there through Thanksgiving,” he said. “We’ll have this problem at least through November and December.”

For more information on helping with relief efforts in Miami, contact Beers at 305-247-3769 or BDBeers@bellsouth.net.  

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© 1999 Florida United Methodist Review Online