The hailstorm of this past Tuesday has been present in different areas of the Aragonese community, but has had great consequences in Calanda, a Teruel town. The peachstar product of this municipality, has been damaged by hail the size of ping-pong balls. It is estimated that nearly 60% of the crop with this hailstorm.
The rain began around 5:20 p.m. in the afternoon and in just 10 minutes it damaged the crops. Around 18:00 in the afternoon, the hail fell again for 15 minutes. Even The economic valuation of these losses is unknown.
the harvest of peach has been the most damaged since smaller hailstones were recorded in the urban area. another one of the z’smost affected areas it was the soccer field that has been another of the consequences of the strong hail
Some neighbors and farmers lamented in networks the loss of this star element for the area along with some local media that published images of the hail that has devastated the fields.
‼⛈ Amazing hailstorm in #Calanda! Like ping-pong balls, even bigger, according to some neighbors
???? This was the hail that devastated the Teruel town of Calanda this Tuesday, endangering a good part of the peach harvest
– The Newspaper of Aragon (@periodicoaragon) July 6, 2022
The Councilor for Agriculture of Calanda, Miguel Fraga, has communicated that the necessary “conditions” and appraisals will be carried out, but that most of them have insurance against frost. Despite the fact that some crops had already begun to be harvested, he assures that “it is going to be a long and complicated year”, according to The Herald of Aragon.
catastrophic zone
The City Council of Calanda is already studying requesting disaster area declaration due to the strong hailstorm that destroyed the place. In April of this 2022 the crops also suffered frost but they did not suffer damage.
The mayor of the town, Alberto Herrero, in collaboration with the Government of Aragon and the central Executive, are going to evaluate the situation and the possibility of establishing aid to the sector through this formula.
He has commented that most of the crops yes they were insured against the hail, but not for frost since of the magnitude that took place in April, when the trees are in bloom, it is not usual for it to happen.
These are difficult times, but you have to get out of them as has been done many times
Herrero has underlined that this municipality “it is clearly agricultural“and its main crops are the Calanda Peach. This has a Protected Designation of Origin together with the olive and almond trees, all of them damaged, as well as cereal -wheat and barley-.
“It’s a fateful year, I don’t remember one as drastic as this one”, in which the main economic sector of the municipality is going to suffer “big losses” since it is also necessary to take into account the increase in expenses due to price increaseswhich was going to be faced because it was hoped that they would obtain a good price for the peach.
Herrero has shown his willingness to support the sector in any way possible. “These are difficult times, but you have to get out of them as has been done many times,” he said. In addition, he has commented that this Wednesday they are also in orange alert for storms. “Hopefully just water falls.”
More rain forecast
The Meteorology Statal Agency (Aemet) warns that the orange alert will remain activated for Aragón due to the risk of large hail in areas such as the Sierra de Gúdar, Maestrazgo and Albarracín. Thus, they explain that this phenomenon is linked to the strong heat that has been suffered these days ago. Aemet indicates that the risk of hail and heavy rains in the area will be active this Wednesday with probabilities between 40 and 70%.
In the southern part of Aragon also remains activated alert for rains that could reach up to 30 liters per square meter in one hour. The rest of the area is on yellow alert for storms and rain.
