Editor’s Letter
18 Separate Billion-Dollar Disasters
With Weather Xtremes as the theme of this issue, I usually try to think of a clever title that relates to the topic for my letter. But I can’t this time. Why? Because on the heels of Earth’s hottest June on record, there’s nothing flippant about raging wildfires, unhealthy air quality, record-breaking heat, hail-producing thunderstorms, and devastating tornadoes and hurricanes.
Anecdotally, many of us feel the weather is becoming more extreme, intense, and even violent. But the facts are even scarier. The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that last year, the U.S. experienced 18 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, putting 2022 in third place for the highest number of disasters recorded in a calendar year, behind 2021 — with 20 events — and 2020, with a record 22 separate billion dollar events. There were drought and wildfires across the western U.S., flooding in Missouri and Kentucky, three tropical cyclones, and other weather events totalling approximately $165 billion. Hurricane Ian alone cost $112.9 billion, ranking as the third most costly U.S. hurricane on record.
What does this mean for landscapers? For Bob Walsh, who owns one of the preeminent landscaping firms on Sanibel Island, FL, which was absolutely demolished by Ian, it means real, first hand lessons in plant survival and new ideas for resilient landscaping. For the crew of Oregon Tool’s Disaster Response Trailer, it’s the importance of keeping tools crucial to cleanup in tip top shape and at the ready. For the consultants at Horticultural Asset Management, Inc., who specialize in emergency response for property managers, insurance pros, and Green Industry experts, it’s about knowing how to document landscape damage for claims so everyone gets paid. It’s also about your own insurance needs and trying new solutions to common problems—like engineered soils that are more erosion resistant. Together we can do our best to weather the weather.
cmenapace@groupc.com
Twitter: @TurfMagazine
Turf August 2023 Issue | Table of Contents
FEATURES
CREATING RESILIENT LANDSCAPES | Ten months after Hurricane Ian, how are Florida landscapers designing differently?
STAYING SHARP | The team from Oregon Tool’s Disaster Response Trailer knows what it takes to keep tools working through disaster recovery.
DOCUMENTING OUTDOOR DAMAGE | Help ensure insurance claims are paid so you are paid.
GET EQUIPPED: DISASTER RESPONSE
5 CONSIDERATIONS WHEN BUYING BUSINESS INSURANCE | Protect your business cost-effectively.
PLOW® MAGAZINE | The Snowball Effect: Don’t Get Hit Unprepared!
TREE SERVICES®: MAKING SOIL A STORMWATER SPONGE | Engineering soil with aggregates can help keep rainfall onsite, reduce erosion, and enhance plantings.
TROUBLESHOOTING TURFGRASS DISEASES | Rule out other factors before assuming disease is the problem.
DESIGN BUILD®: BEAUTY BEYOND THE WAREHOUSE | Uline prioritizes the landscape as a reflection of its corporate culture.
GET EQUIPPED: NALP’S ELEVATE EXPO
THE YARDSTICK: JENNIFER LEMCKE | She grew up in the business and is taking it in new directions as CEO of Turf Holdings/Weed Man.
