On May 6th our tea farm got the blend we never wanted. We were struck with one long track E3 Tornado in Brookhaven, MS. The tea farm would be heavily impacted.
Image Credit: Storm Chaser Aaron Rigsby
In the early evening our phones started to blow up with Tornado alerts to take cover. The Tea Shack is the most secure building on site so we loaded up all 6 of the dogs and all three humans and headed to the Tea Shack to wait it out.
The storm could be felt and heard. We thought the windows were being blown out. After it all ended, we stepped out of the Tea Shack to what looked like a disaster zone from a movie. Trees snapped. Part of our home room off. Trim missing. Stuff everywhere.
We did not have time to dwell. One of the first things we noticed was that there was a car in the ditch out in front of the driveway with a tree on it. We ran out to offer assistance and took the two occupants in to call for help out of the rain.
Over the next few days, the reality of the damages would sink in.
The shade trees at the tea farm were broken and bent over.
The giant Oaks shredded or toppled.
Buildings moved.
Water stations destroyed.
Branches and mess everywhere.
It was an overwhelming sight.
Just days before the storm we had begun building a new Tea Packing Shack. That too had been toppled. This is of concern as the new equipment was about to be delivered and cannot sit in the weather. It is too big to store just anywhere.
The next weeks would be filled with love and support by many of our friends in the community as we had to work to clean up.
Although insurance will cover some costs on the home site. Many costs will not be covered to clean up the tea farm. Meanwhile, we will lose many weeks of tea harvesting as we work to get things cleared.
If you would like to support our rebuild we do have a Go Fund Me Set up. We are grateful to all for any small bit of support anyone can provide.
For now, we are focused on taking it day by day. We are steeped in resilience.
Tea Store | Blog | Farm Tours | Tea Processing Experiences
And don't forget to follow us!
Leave a comment