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After Beryl damaged his home in Jamaica, a farmworker contends with storm damage in Vermont
https://vtdigger.org/2024/07/19/after-beryl-damaged-his-home-in-jamaica-a-farmworker-contends-with-storm-damage-in-vermont/After Beryl damaged his home in Jamaica, a farmworker contends with storm damage in Vermont
“It can feel miserable sometimes,” Ranaldo Blackwood said. “But I said, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
By Emma Cotton
July 19, 2024, 3:58 pm
Melvin “Ranaldo” Blackwood, left, and Godfrey Vernon stand in front of rows of damaged crops at Joe’s Brook Farm on Tuesday, July 16. Photo by Emma Cotton/VTDigger
BARNET — On Tuesday, Melvin Blackwood, who goes by his nickname, Ranaldo, looked out over rows of crops strewn with mud at Joe’s Brook Farm, where organic vegetables had been growing one week earlier.
When remnants of Hurricane Beryl hit Vermont on July 11, the storm spoiled almost all of the farm’s crops. Owners Eric and Mary Skovsted consider the damage a total loss.
Beryl has now struck Blackwood twice. On July 3, the eye of the storm, which was a Category 4 hurricane at the time, brushed the southern border of Jamaica, causing major damage in St. Elizabeth, the parish where he lives.
[...]
Blackwood, his son, and their friend, Godfrey Vernon, have been coming to Vermont from Jamaica for years through the H2A program, which helps fill employment gaps in the United States by giving workers from other countries a special visa for seasonal agricultural work.
[...]
“It can feel miserable sometimes,” Ranaldo Blackwood said. “But I said, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
By Emma Cotton
July 19, 2024, 3:58 pm
Melvin “Ranaldo” Blackwood, left, and Godfrey Vernon stand in front of rows of damaged crops at Joe’s Brook Farm on Tuesday, July 16. Photo by Emma Cotton/VTDigger
BARNET — On Tuesday, Melvin Blackwood, who goes by his nickname, Ranaldo, looked out over rows of crops strewn with mud at Joe’s Brook Farm, where organic vegetables had been growing one week earlier.
When remnants of Hurricane Beryl hit Vermont on July 11, the storm spoiled almost all of the farm’s crops. Owners Eric and Mary Skovsted consider the damage a total loss.
Beryl has now struck Blackwood twice. On July 3, the eye of the storm, which was a Category 4 hurricane at the time, brushed the southern border of Jamaica, causing major damage in St. Elizabeth, the parish where he lives.
[...]
Blackwood, his son, and their friend, Godfrey Vernon, have been coming to Vermont from Jamaica for years through the H2A program, which helps fill employment gaps in the United States by giving workers from other countries a special visa for seasonal agricultural work.
[...]