A little over a week after the DANA, a destructive weather system in which cold and warm air meet and produce powerful rain clouds leading to catastrophic flash floods, changed the lives of hundreds of people in the Community of Valencia, the work of removing debris and searching for the missing people continues.

Along with the impact on urban areas, the province of Valencia's countryside is experiencing the worst weather event that has hit the region in 200 years. Losses have been described as catastrophic for thousands of crop and plantation hectares, many in full season.

In the province of Castellón, Spanish media reported that citrus crops have been the most damaged since the rains arrived at a key harvest moment. This will have consequences for mandarins, clementines, and oranges, especially in Navelina.

The region's citrus season runs from September to June, so the climatic phenomenon arrived when the early varieties had already been harvested, but there was still fruit to harvest on the trees.

One of the great fears of the agricultural sector is what will happen to the trees. Given the large amount of water and mud, if some of them survive, they will suffer from diseases.

In addition, a drop in the fruit supply is expected, both in local and international markets, given that Valencia is a major orange producing region. In 2023, Valencia produced 964.6 million tons of oranges.

With the fruit that was kept in refrigerated chambers, industry members hope to meet their customer's needs.

Another crop heavily affected was persimmon or kaki. The Spanish Persimmon Association released a statement saying that the impact of the DANA was devastating for the crop in Valencia, especially in the areas of highest production. An initial estimate foresees crop losses of over 70% in many famrs, as torrential rains, wind, and hail caused fruit to fall and considerable damage to plantations.

Agroseguros is also collecting information on the damages in the province of Albacete, in the Region of Murcia and Andalusia, particularly Almeria. To a lesser extent, damage also occurred on October 30 in the western part of Andalusia and the northeastern part of the peninsula, in Aragon and Catalonia.

Related article: DANA causes "catastrophic" losses in thousands of hectares of crops and plantations in Valencia, Spain

“Although it is still too early to know the exact economic impact that this DANA may have had on agriculture or livestock, the first impression is that it is a very exceptional weather event, which far exceeds the DANAs recorded in recent years,” said Agroseguros.

“The DANA has seriously affected crops that are in the process of being harvested. The damage to persimmon, citrus, and some vegetables in the Valencian Community; citrus and vegetables in the Region of Murcia; vegetables in the province of Albacete; and citrus and vegetables, including those grown under plastic, in Almeria. In addition, there may have been damage to woody crops, as well as to livestock farms”.

Agroseguro's first estimates on the effect of the DANA in Valencia put the number of affected hectares at 20,000, distributed among 42,000 plots. Crops damaged are mainly citrus, persimmons, wine grapes, and vegetables and, to a lesser extent, woody crops such as almond and olive trees.

Many farms are still flooded and cut off, so the final number of human losses and losses in agricultural infrastructure and hectares is on the process of being assessed. 

*Main photo AEKAKI - via Valencia Fruits.

This is a developing story.