Hurricane's Effects Linger for Some Florida Nurseries

NPR | By Ari Shapiro

Published December 25, 2004 at 12:00 AM EST

Rosemary Warner of Native Southeastern Trees stands by trees that were stripped nearly bare by the hurricanes.

Florida's biggest agricultural crop is nursery plants, which suffered losses when four major hurricanes swept through the state this year.

Many nursery owners are single entrepreneurs or families who can't bounce back from a natural disaster as easily as big businesses. Rosemary Warner and her husband own a 50-acre farm, Native Southeastern Trees, in Osteen, Fla. The storms destroyed more than half of their company's stock.

The fate of nurseries varied widely across the state, from nearly unscathed to totally destroyed. NPR's Ari Shapiro continues his series of reports on the storms' long-term impact.

Ari Shapiro

Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.

See stories by Ari Shapiro

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