Surviving Hurricane Ian: A Case for Resilience in Greenhouse Design

By Paul Rusnak|October 29, 2022

Major Hurricane Ian brought a wide range of damaging effects across the Florida peninsula – mainly ferocious winds, record rainfall, and widespread flooding. Myriad farms and greenhouses were in the path of the storm. One of them was Worldwide Aquaponics in East Palatka, FL. Angela TenBroeck, CEO of the indoor farming operation situated in a nook along the St. Johns River, has seen and experienced the power from past hurricanes. But this one raised the bar and has her thinking about how greenhouse facilities, especially in flood zones, should be built for better resilience — from the ground up.

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Hurricane Ian made landfall on Sept. 28, 2022 as a strong Category 4 storm. It slowly marched across the Florida peninsula, causing an estimated $1.8 billion in damage to the state's agriculture sector.

Photo credit: NOAA
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Flooding from Hurricane Ian was massive. Worldwide Aquaponics in East Palatka, FL, experienced it firsthand. This image is from a week after the storm struck. A Facebook post from Worldwide Aquaponics describes it as: "Storm surge was like a slow tsunami… it marched through our farm… We built to take on 3-4’… today it’s greater than Matthew (at 6 plus feet)…"
Photo courtesy of Worldwide Aquaponics
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Angela TenBroeck of Worldwide Aquaponics says conditions outside the CEA structures were thrown into a state of chaos. Outdoor tanks were hit especially hard.
Photo courtesy of Worldwide Aquaponics
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Random barrels and other debris were among the rubble found around Worldwide Aquaponics following Hurricane Ian.
Photo courtesy of Worldwide Aquaponics
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Among losses from Hurricane Ian at Worldwide Aquaponics were tools, pumps, crops, and the entire office.
Photo courtesy of Worldwide Aquaponics
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There were some successes coming out of the storm at Worldwide Aquaponics. The fish, shrimp, and salad greens inside all survived. Angela TenBroeck of Worldwide Aquaponics says this produce is going to the local school district.
Photo courtesy of Worldwide Aquaponics

She recently posted her thoughts about the subject on LinkedIn. Here’s what she had to say:

A month ago #hurricaneian was bearing down on the west coast of Florida. Little did we know that Ian would bring record breaking storm surge and winds.

Angela TenBroeck

Three days and nights we had record storm surge. I watched my cameras live feed and was sick. I watched as barrels from who knows where floated by, trees fell, outdoor fish tanks came out of the ground… Our office was flooded and leaking from the roof a total loss of computers/autodialers/printers/desks…

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But the greenhouse seemed to be holding its own. I watched the cameras from the inside of the greenhouse no water… then a surge rushed in within an hour and there was 2 feet of water… river and sea water. The side walls were built to 18 inches where Hurricane Matthew had stopped… BUT we learned. ⇓

In this new climate we are in, it’s time to build back with lessons learned. We will take these to all of our future facilities and beyond.

1. Build CEA facilities 2 feet above highest flood. Then knee walls another 12 inches.
2. Put your pumps/electricity 40 inches off the ground.
3. Deep water culture with a storm modification works best and has no loss.
4. Put in flood planks in the doors of the old buildings

I reached out to TenBroeck, Florida’s 2021 Woman of the Year in Agriculture. She told me: “The story of using land is the story.”

What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave a reader comment below.

Paul Rusnak is Senior Online Editor for Greenhouse Grower and Growing Produce, another Meister Media Worldwide brand. He is based in Northeast Florida. See all author stories here.