After dumping more than a foot of rain in Charleston last week, tropical storm Debby continued to move up the coast. She left a wet city in her wake, but not a devastated one. While initial storm predictions suggested catastrophic flooding, Debby’s damage wasn’t on par with the 1,000-year flood the area saw in 2015.
Some farmers were hit harder than others.
Brigmon Farms in Cottageville was, according to co-owner Timothy Brigmon, completely destroyed. The family-run farm specializes in poultry and eggs and sells products like quiches, butter and pies at local farmers markets. Debby completely flooded the Brigmon home, farmstand and mini bakery.
“We lost 80% of our birds. We lost our commercial kitchen and all equipment inside,” Brigmon said. “We will be rebuilding as soon as the water recedes, but it will take a while to get back to where we need to be again. We hate asking for help, but funding is really what we need to get the farm going again.”
You can support the Brigmon family and farm on gofundme.com.
Local farmer Sidi Limehouse, of Rosebank Farms, called the wet week “a real bad situation.” The Johns Island farm produces beans, tomatoes, carrots, collards and more and sells all of its produce, along with seafood, flowers and additional regional items at its farmstand at Kiawah River.
And while Limehouse said that Debby’s impact was “nowhere near” the devastation from the 1,000-year flood, no farmer looks forward to hurricane season. Wet fields force farmers to wait for things to dry out.
“If you’re gonna do this kind of farming, you have to be optimistic,” said Limehouse. “That’s just the name of the game. If you’re a pessimist, you need to go lay bricks or something.”
The folks at Johns Island’s Jeremiah Farm & Goat Dairy were optimistic about Debby after receiving a foot of rain that left things “soggy” but not flooded. Co-owner Casey Price said that she was thankful that the recent drought in the area had ended. During the storm Price said, “All the goats are high and dry in the barn and enjoying room service.”
The farm is scheduling cheese-, soap- and kombucha-making classes for late August through fall and interested participants can learn more online at jeremiahfarm.com.
Getting back to normal
Jeff Siewicki of Wadmalaw’s Vital Mission Farm, said that while he lost a few young turkeys to the rain and flooding “it could have been much worse.” He was thankful that the regenerative farm didn’t suffer any major damage.
Nathan Boggs of Fili-West Farms said that restaurant closures left the farm, which specializes in pasture-raised eggs, with a lot of unsold inventory. The mild winds, though, kept the farm from sustaining any real damage.
Fortunately for oyster lovers, Debby didn’t shut down oyster season like the 1,000 year flood nine years earlier.
Owner of Lowcountry Oyster Company, Trey McMillan explained how his company prepared for Debby. “We halt harvesting if we have more than four inches of rain fall in a 24 hour period, so, for this storm, we prepared by conducting a larger than normal harvest on Sunday before the rain started,” he said. “By doing this, we ensure we can supply some of our local clients and a couple of our wholesale accounts throughout the Southeast. The influx of fresh water can affect the oysters if it doesn’t flush out quickly, so we are hoping the next few tide cycles will help move the fresh water out and bring in nice salty water so we don’t see any dead loss.”
Farmers markets were washed out last week, too. Deputy director of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department, Ann Simmons said: “This point in the market season is always a struggle because when we’re not dealing with the absolute blistering heat, we’re dealing with the threat of storms. Thankfully our new location has the pavilion, so we’ve not had to cancel as many markets this season as we would have in past years when we were completely exposed to the elements.”
The North Charleston Farmers Market reopened in the recently renovated Park Circle Pavilion earlier this year. Head there for a wide variety of vendors, food trucks and entertainment from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Thursday now through Oct. 24.
Kristy Bialas, the organizer of the year-round Johns Island Sea Island Market, saw plenty of customers come out to the Saturday morning market that took place just days after Debby left town.
“Most of our farmers have come through with some damage, but not devastation,” she said. “The market did well and the customers were very supportive as we worked back towards normal.”
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