Ammochosto Province: Damages of over 40% in potato plantations due to rains

Over 40% of the damage to the potato plantations in Kokkinohoria is estimated from the heavy rains that occurred yesterday, since all the plantations of early, mid-early and late potatoes have been flooded, Andreas Karios, a representative of the potato producers, told the Cyprus News Agency.

He added that "the rains that occurred yesterday in Kokkinohoria are more than enough, to the point that they have flooded many potato plantations, which are the majority of plantations in the area". As he noted, the entire potato plantation in the province has been affected by the rains and floods. However, he said, "for now we cannot see them, because 10-15 days must pass in order to be able to enter the fields and see to what extent the rotting of the potatoes has reached".

He also mentioned that potato fields were flooded in all the communities where the specific product is planted in Kokkinohoria, from Ormidia, Xylofago - which was hit last week by hail - and Paralimni. "Fortunately, the destruction in the flooded areas of potato plantations, concerning the early, mid-early and late, is not total, but we estimate that the damages are over 40%", he stressed.

Responding to a related question, Mr. Karyos said that "when there are such severe weather phenomena, we inform the officials of the Department of Agriculture, who visit the areas and see the problem that exists. However, an announcement on Damage Statements will be made when the officials manage to enter the flooded potato plantations and see that there is more than 30% damage".

He also explained that in case the damage by area is below 30% then there is no notification of Damage Declarations and the damages remain with the producer. "During yesterday the rainfall was very intense and combined with the rains and hail in some areas last week, they had the effect of flooding all the potato plantations of the Red Villages," he noted.

In the meantime, due to the intense weather phenomena that prevailed yesterday in the free province of Famagusta, a tornado formed in Paralimni and a water tornado formed in the sea in the area of ​​Vrysoudia in Protaras.

A greenhouse with tomatoes and cucumbers was completely destroyed by the tornado and its pieces were carried several meters away. Fortunately, there were no workers in the area at the time, so there were no injuries.

The tornado also destroyed some tomato and cucumber crops near the greenhouse, while solar water heaters and water tanks in Paralimni were damaged.

In Larnaca yesterday afternoon, during heavy rain, some streets in the city center were flooded for a while, however, as soon as the rain stopped, the streets were opened after the rainwater drains managed to absorb the large amount of water.

The streets that were flooded were Diogenous Street in the Faneromeni area, part of Griva Digeni Avenue, outside the former residence of the Police Director and a street outside the Kiti Metropolis.