CONWAY, Mass. (WWLP) – Senator Ed Markey made a stop in Conway Wednesday to speak with local farmers and regional leaders about recent flood damage.
Senator Markey met with leaders from the local, state, and federal government as well as farmers at Natural Roots farm because as he put it, this farm is the most graphic example of why assistance is so important.
The National Weather Service named Conway the wettest town in the country in July and at farms like Natural Roots, the record breaking amount of rain was catastrophic for their business. The South River which the farm lays next to flooded almost every crop and in turn put an end to the vast majority of the farms sales for the year.
Senator Ed Markey made the trip to the farm to asses the damage along with many other local leaders and Farm Owner David Fisher was grateful that this issue is being brought to the forefront.
“To have someone like yourself who’s taking these needs and this reality to that level, and know that it’s not just important but it’s totally essential, that is huge and I really appreciate everyone coming out today at all the levels, the town, the county, the state, and the federal government,” said Fisher.
Natural Roots lost 95 percent of their crops this summer. Senator Markey and other local leaders are letting every farmer know that help is here to stay and more help is on the way.
“If they’re going to take a risk to continue to farm, to provide food for the communities, then in turn we have to say we’ll have your back through crop insurance, through grants. We just have to make sure that kind of assistance is there,” said Markey.
Senator Markey stressed that as climate change continues to worsen, the goal is to create and fund assistance that is resilient sustainable.
Markey also made a stop in Deerfield Wednesday afternoon, the town of Deerfield received more rain than almost every other part of the country last month and it left behind a considerable amount of damage.
Senator Markey met with state and town leaders on County Road down the hill from Eaglebrook Academy. This location was chosen because just a few weeks ago this small stream that runs down the hill turned into a raging flood and created infrastructure problems throughout the town.
“Almost every road in Deerfield has significant damage and just a quick fix to make sure it’s passable and safe is about $4 million of damage. However, if we’re really going to rebuild things to be resilient for the next 500 storms, I would say we’re in the $20 million range,” said Caroline Ness, Chair of the Deerfield Selectboard.
Some of those repairs Ness mentioned that are needed are adding open bottom culverts and fixing landslides.
The Town of Deerfield has a budget under $20 million and because they are looking for around that much help, they are now relying on the state and federal government for help.
