RUTLEDGE, Tenn. — Communities across East Tennessee spent much of Thursday cleaning up from severe storms that swept through the region on Wednesday, bringing winds, rain and hail. The storm damaged cars, homes and even greenhouses.
Grainger County is famous for its tomatoes, but after the severe storms, some farmers' crops were damaged. Shane Pierce is one of them. He said he was about to do his first pick on Wednesday, but the storm and strong winds kept him away.
"I looked over that direction, and it was really black," said Pierce. "And I said, 'It's coming fast.' And next thing I know, it hit ... We're just going to go through and assess the damage. It has caused harvest loss. Some of the plants were destroyed in the storm."
Pierce says of his 27 greenhouses and plant houses, 16 were damaged. He said the damage he's looking at could be in the six figures. He said it would cost more than $100,000 to rebuild the structures, also factoring in the cost of lost crops.
He also said greenhouses are not covered under insurance, so he will need to pay for repairs himself. He said the burden of paying for repairs and not having the harvest he was hoping for could make it tough financially.
"Not having the harvest we was hoping for financially is going to be tough," said Pierce. "Just like every farmer, you have a line of credit, revolving line of credit, and they expect you to pay it back. No insurance on this? No, no way out. So to cover the cost out of pocket, then expect to pay back your loans — it's going to be tough."
He said he's been in touch with local lawmakers and farm agencies to get some disaster relief. However, Pierce says there was a bright side to this situation. He said his and his grandfather's phones keep ringing from all the good neighbors who want to come out and help clean up.
"It's a blessing to have good friends, good neighbors, that come out when you really need them," said Pierce. "I would want to live nowhere else, but right here. I mean, just that people will come out of the woodworks that help. We laugh, we joke, we aggravate, but when you really need somebody, you know we're there. They're there. And that's really what being a neighbor is all about."
Pierce said he knows other farmers in the area with crop damage from the storm, and said he hopes the damage won't impact the Grainger County Tomato Festival. It is set to start on July 19.
"There could be some impact on the tomato festival, because not only us but other farmers were impacted — not only for the greenhouses we had, and along with some of my neighbors, the major impact on greenhouse damage," said Pierce. "A lot of these farmers did have an impact on their field crops that were just recently planted. So, we're just trying to move forward and hope we can supply and I hope there's still a good demand."