Initial assessments indicate that Alico, Inc. sustained minimal tree damage from Hurricane Milton last week.
Most importantly, we are grateful that none of our approximately 197 employees were casualties from this devastating storm in Florida last week. The full impact of Hurricane Milton on Alico's assets and operations is still being assessed at this time, but we believe the lessons learned over the past century, especially since Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Ian in 2022, allowed us to be better prepared prior to landfall and to more rapidly begin recovery after impact. Our disaster programs and protocols, our dedicated workforce, and experienced management helped to limit the damage to our properties.
Our approximately 48,000 acres of citrus groves, which are located in Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands and Polk Counties, sustained hurricane or tropical storm force winds for varying durations of time. Field assessments are ongoing, but initial observations include measurable drop of fruit from trees in our northern groves, particularly in Polk and Hardee County. The magnitude of this drop will be formally calculated by our staff and our insurance companies over the coming weeks. As of the time of this press release, initial inspections indicate that substantially all our trees remain intact. We believe this indicates that Company-wide, the impact of the storm will be on production in the current season, rather than on long-term production.
Alico did not experience any significant flooding at our properties. Our leased office headquarters in Ft. Myers in Lee County was not damaged, and our other property and equipment also was not materially impacted.
Alico maintains crop insurance for catastrophic events on all of our groves. While all of our groves experienced an impact from Hurricane Milton, it is possible that none of our groves may have suffered enough damage for insurance claims. Alico maintains insurance for catastrophic loss of trees, which is not likely to be significant from this storm. The Company will work closely with Florida Citrus Mutual, the citrus industry trade group, and government agencies on potential federal relief funds and will seek any and all federal, state or local assistance programs to aid in our recovery.
For more information:
Alico
10070 Daniels Interstate Court,
Suite 200, Fort Myers, FL
Tel: +1 800-636-1737
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.alicoinc.com