Te Riebelings pictured with the food and supplies donations.
Erin Wilder (right) and her son David brought Jimmy and Vanessa Riebeling’s donations from Sod Solutions after Hurricane Sally hit Riebeling Farms in 2020.
Hurricane Sally sat on top of their farm for a long time and flipped 9 of their 16 center pivot irrigation rigs. Tey were fortunate to still have a roof on their house and to be able to use irrigation generators to rewire electricity to it. Shortly after, their customer from Florida drove up and assisted them in cutting and removing tree debris on the farm. Jimmy said that everyone in their region was in the same boat for the most part and said they had to get their equipment and pivots replaced and work with their insurance companies. Sod Solutions worked with other industry members for donations and brought them to Riebeling Farms after Sally hit.
Riebeling Farms is just one of hundreds of farms that have had to pick up the mess after a storm and figure out their next steps. In 2024, Hurricane Helene was a devastating storm that wiped out full communities, roads, and other essential infrastructure, and was responsible for at least 250 fatalities across the Southeast. Entire regions had to be rebuilt, and many are still navigating new norms in these areas that were hit. It was remarkable to see some in our network of growers dedicate their time, supplies, energy, and faith to assist those impacted by this hurricane.
Recovering from Hurricane Ian Jonathan Brown, owner of Creekside Sod and the ag consulting firm ProGro Solutions, shared his account of Hurricane Ian’s landfall on Florida’s southwest coast around 7:00 pm on September 28, 2022, near Cayo Costa. Brown explained that the hurricane brought with it coastal flooding and erosion and wind destruction of structures and trees. Due to the time of year and two weeks of above- average rainfall in front of Ian, many of the lakes, rivers and creeks were already at or near flood stage. In some areas, Ian had dropped as much as 21 inches of rain. Te result was freshwater flooding ranging from Punta Gorda up to Lakeland Florida and beyond.
As a result, sod farms were impacted by lost power, which brings offices and shops to a standstill. Some even suffered power loss for a few weeks. “Many structures such as offices, shops, and pump houses were left without a roof, or worse completely leveled. In several cases, production and harvesting equipment parked in shops or barns were damaged by collapsed roofs and walls. Center pivots and linear irrigation systems that were not anchored properly were strewn about the fields like spaghetti,” Brown shared.
He said that repairs were delayed as some waited weeks on insurance adjusters to make site visits and others were trying to just move the rubble from above and around equipment without causing further damage.
“With all the flooding, even after the water receded, many of the roads, bridges and culverts were washed out and impassable. It was a logistical nightmare. Trucks trying to deliver shells for road reconstruction at the farm couldn’t get to the farm. Even if you could harvest sod, some farms were locked in due to impassable highways leading to and from the farms and customers,” he added.
After Ian hit, many local markets had been damaged by the storm and their phones weren’t ringing with new orders. “Flooding, high winds, and crippled logistics brought a big portion of the market to a screeching halt. New construction slowed, scheduled renovations were delayed, building materials was in short supply, and labor was
TPI Turf News July/August 2025 83
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
