Bad Weather

[Nigel Clement]

For a variety of reasons I decided to start this thread:

1. Living in the Caribbean which has its seasonal share of Hurricanes

2. Given an experience that Green Acre Organics recently had

3. Given the current weather being experienced in the Caribbean and on the Eastern seaboard of the US

4. Having had my eyes opened a few years ago to the whole issue of Business continuity

 

I am putting it out to my fellow Aquapons what have we/are we doing at our respective farms about contingencies for bad weather particularly as it relates to business continuity? Suggestions, thoughts, theories, gut feelings and experiences would certainly be welcomed.

[Gina Cavaliero]

Thanks for starting this Nigel.  We have had quite the bit of bad weather move through since yesterday and while our new seedling hoop house failed under the torrential rains, it really was due to a design flaw.  Oops!  We are procuring the materials to correct it today and will make some modifications.  Nothing like Mother Nature to tell you its wrong! Lol.

In respect to hurricanes and the potential for high winds, our storm plan includes removing the greenhouse film or fabric, securing fish tanks with plywood, readying generators and sitting tight.  We know that our structure is not rated for wind load.  They can be but it includes developing engineered plans and even with that engineering, the structure's capacity to withstand hurricane force winds is questionable.  Most engineering with greenhouse structures are mostly for snow load, not so much wind.  Our theory is we much rather lose one crop as opposed to our structure.  We are quite certain that if the cover was left intact, with its surface area in high winds the structure would most definitely fail.  

 

Our bigger concern really is tornadoes.   With the lack of advance warning, there is no way to prepare.  Having been in construction and done some restoration work after an F3 went through a nearby town several years ago, I am amazed at the destructive power.  I will never forget seeing leaves inbedded a half inch into drywall with the entire leaf still intact.  It was incredible and I would not have believed it had I not seen it.  

 

As far as how that relates to business continuity, ag insurance is available for crop losses and that to me is really the best line of defense to insure continuity in the face of massive losses.  Losses will happen, that is unavoidable, so the best you can do is have a plan in place to deal with them when they occur.  

[TCLynx]

What happened at Green Acre, I didn't think the weather got that bad here in Central FL?

[Gina Cavaliero]

We had some wind gusts last night and this am up to 50mph and more on the way, but mostly it was just the sheer amount of rainfall.  We are working on that new seedling structure still and finally got the cover on day before yesterday.  However, we didn't include a center rib and the two support ribs we did install allowed for a pocket in the cover right in the middle.  We got so much rain so fast, it puddled quicker then it could shed the water and collapsed the PVC hoop structure.   Nothing major, but just have to go back and make some modifications.  (Tonya says it was my design flaw, so I said ok. ) We probably should have just taken it off yesterday but was dodging rain drops and some vicious lightning and when we have lightning popping about, I run inside like a little girl!  Hate lightning!  Lol.

[steve]

I just recently visited a nearby hydroponic farm that some clever young men put together. Unfortunately it was recently shredded by a windstorm. They went from doing a great business, down to nothing overnight.  I can see some problems with their structure design which done differently, possibly could have saved them. One thing I've learned living remotely is to always try to stay ahead of problems. I have an extra plastic roof sheet on hand, 2 extra pumps, a generator and yes need gasoline on hand. Extra feed for animals, fish. Also trying to produce more feed because someday there might not be any available. Have a list of other items like a gas powered pump for a 3rd backup. Now if I could just get my system cycled and some backup food in it for me.

[TCLynx]

Dang!!!!!

Hopefully the fix is fairly easy.

 

Not much rain here.  It rumbles daily and threatens to rain but we haven't actually gotten that much.  Rained for about ten minutes this morning and maybe two minutes last night.

[Gina Cavaliero]

Yeah, the fix is not too bad and as much as we could use the rain, it is killing us on getting things done!  We have been getting a lot nearly every day for the last week.  It looks like you will be getting some today though!

[TCLynx]

some

 

[Wayne Hall]

Like Nigel living in the Caribbean has its advantages and disadvantages, the biggest disadvantage is that almost everything is imported, so if the local hardware store is out we have to wait until it arrives, and that's if they decide to order it.

More importantly we have to be prepared for any number of possible things, even the ones we haven't thought about yet.

So contingencies for us are a way of everyday life. 

Just the other day Hurricane Irene came visiting and of all things the hot water element decided to die on me, and of course still waiting on it to arrive, so the options are (1) take a cold shower, (2) boil water or (3) do without...... which really isn't an option, and that's just the simple things.

For us who venture into the world of aquaponics, we then need to think about things like backup water and aeration pumps, extra feed for the fish, extra covering for the greenhouse, and the list goes on.

Unfortunately for us in the Bahamas there is no such thing as AG insurance, they just do not offer it, and when I asked if they would be prepared to insure certain aspects the requirements where so prohibitive, it just would not make financial sense.

On the one hand we are blessed we live in "Paradise", however it comes with a step price. 

[Pices]

Although this has been an incredibly hot summer, fall and winter are around the corner. Has anyone had any experience with heating their AP water? I have been looking at pool heaters: solar, gas and heat pumps. The gas and heat pump devices require much higher water flow than is typically needed for aquaponics. Has anyone had any success in adapting one of these units for aquaponics?

[Daniel E Murphy]

One idea that comes to mind is to employ a windbreak on the boarders of the property:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windbreak.  

We covered basic backup contingencies in another thread but yes having some extra batteries, generator, etc is very key.  

Another Idea is to build the greenhouse out of storm windows :)  

[TCLynx]

Yea I agree for my sub tropical climate, while for a few nights in winter a greenhouse might be nice, I think for most of the year, only a roof would be nicer.  I'm going to try bird netting as a hopeful way to deter squirrels as it seemed to work in the dirt garden against both squirrels and rabbits one winter.  And for now I'm going without a roof even since our wet seasons for the last few years haven't been wet enough for me to worry about too much rain water getting in.

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Wow, I used to envy all you guys living in those warm climes until I came across this thread ...sheesh...

I have installed a system of slightly tensioned wire rope with turnbuckles connected to the load bearing members of the greenhouse to help against the wind, but I doubt it would help much with hurricane type winds (it does get pretty bad here though). 

Snow load I'm good for, but what I wasn't good for this year was the snow starting to melt during the day then freezing at -17C degrees over night, causing the metal gutters to freeze expand/contract, busting out abut half my glass roof panels. Boy was I bummed when I woke up in the morning and saw that. Luckily my durascrim liner rafts weren't installed because there were huge shards of glass stuck vertically in the ground were the rafts should have been.