Managing Fruit Orchards to Minimize Hurricane Damage Jonathan Crane 1 , Carlos Balerdi 2 , Richard Campbell 3 , Carl Campbell l , and Seymour Goldweber 2 Additional index words. reset, storm damage, typhoon Summary. Hurricanes occur periodically in southern Florida, resulting in severely damaged or destroyed orchards due to high winds, fresh-water flooding, and salt damage accompanying these storms. Commercial fruit production is often markedly reduced following hurricane damage. Orchard establishment and management practices that increase tree rooting depth and reduce tree size decrease tree losses due to high-velocity winds that accompany these storms. Cultural practices, such as post-hurricane pruning, whitewashing, resetting, and irrigation of trees, can rehabilitate a damaged orchard. Planning for a hurricane will increase the ability of orchards to withstand a storm and resume fruit production as soon as possible following a storm. Background Southern Florida has experienced numerous hurricanes (1926, 1928, 1929, 1935, 1945, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1966), the most recent of which occurred on 24 Aug. 1992 (Hurricane Andrew). Andrew was rated as a category 4 hurricane by the National Weather Service, with sustained winds of 145 mph (233 kph) and gusts >175 mph (282 kph). Estimated destruction from Hurricane Andrew was 35% to 45% of the 22,000 acres (8903 ha) of commercial tropical fruit crops grown in Dade County, Fla. Prior to the storm, the commercial fruit industry was worth $75 million annually in gross sales (Mosely, 1990). Com- mercial growers are presently assessing their options, such as replant- ing the same or a different crop; rehabilitating damaged trees, irriga- tion systems, and equipment; or abandonment. Winds from Hurricane Andrew caused almost complete defolia- tion of all fruit crops, moderate to severe limb damage, trunk twisting and breakage, tree toppling, uprooting of entire trees, and the loss of 1 Tropical Fruit Crops Specialist and Tropical Fruit Crops Specialist, Emeritus. University of Florida, IFAS, Tropical Research and Education Center, Homestead, FL 33031-3314. 2 Multi-County Tropical Fruit Crops Extension Agent and Multi-County Tropical Fruit Crops Extension Agent, Emeritus. Dade, IFAS Cooperative Extension Service, Homestead, FL 33030. 3 Curator of Tropical Fruit/Extension Horticulturist, Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, FL 33156-4296 Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series no. R-03660. The cost of publishing this paper was defrayed in part by the payment Of Page charges. Under Postal regulations, this paper therefore must be hereby marked advertisement solely to indicate this fact.