![]() ![]() Though most farm fields are idle this time of the year, some newly planted crops were flooded, said Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau. Crops, equipment, irrigation systems and well pumps were also lost. Between 25,000 to 35,000 acres of farming land were “seriously impacted” by floods, said county spokesperson Nicholas Pasculli. ![]() In Monterey County, officials estimate agriculture losses of at least $50 million. The agriculture industry is still assessing the toll of recent storms and warns that the upcoming farming season could be delayed as a result. “It’s been a long time since it’s rained this hard.” “We haven’t seen an impact like this recently,” Molina said. The money isn’t enough … the most important thing is to pay the rent so we don’t get evicted.” “If there’s no work, there’s no money for the bills, the rent, food. “It’s an impact financially,” said Molina, 48. That week, she worked only three full days, she said. The next day she couldn’t work because of a storm’s aftermath. but was sent home two hours later because it started to rain. On a recent Monday, she arrived to prune grapes at 7 a.m. Rocio Molina, who works in Kern County, said she has found employment only intermittently over the past weeks. The little that we’ve worked, we’ve had to save as much as we can.” “You have to pay the rent and no one is going to wait for you. “The impact for me is that I’m not making money for the bills that I have,” Roman said. ![]() They put their income toward more than $1,300 in monthly rent, utility bills and internet service for her 11-year-old son, who needs it for schoolwork. When they work, she and her husband each make about $110 daily. So when disasters do strike, “the experiences are amplified because resources are often not targeted, or they’re withheld from these communities.” They “have not provided enough resources, disaster planning, preparedness, translation services for these communities before a disaster happens,” he said. Méndez said farmworkers are especially vulnerable to extreme climate events because they are low-income most are immigrants without legal status, which makes them ineligible for unemployment benefits and health insurance and because state and local governments weren’t doing enough to protect a vital workforce. “This is just a part of the larger history of disproportionate impacts that this population is experiencing.” “We have compounding and cascading disasters from extreme storms, flooding, wildfires, heat waves and drought that are all impacting farmworkers,” said Michael Méndez, assistant professor of environmental planning and policy at UC Irvine. Last year, approximately 12,000 agricultural jobs were lost when California’s irrigated farmland shrank by 752,000 acres, or nearly 10%. The flooding is just the latest in a continuing series of environmental crises that have affected farmworkers in recent years, including laboring in extreme heat, inhaling harmful wildfire smoke or losing work due to drought. ![]()
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