They grow America’s strawberries. A vicious flood made them climate migrants
In the early hours of 11 March, pummeling rains wore down a levee on the Pajaro River, unleashing a torrent. [Theresa] Barajas, 50, had escaped with her daughter and grandson under the blare of sirens. But the floods swallowed the town – and perhaps their future here. … Most of the US’s summer strawberries are grown in the Pajaro valley and nearby Salinas, as are a number of other berries and greens. But without urgent government intervention and investment, the immigrant farm workers who pick them could become climate migrants. Many lack legal status, and are therefore ineligible for federal disaster relief funds or unemployment insurance. Even those who do are struggling to feed themselves and their families in one of the most expensive and under-resourced agricultural communities in the US.
Related articles:
- Mercury News: Monterey spent one-fifth what Santa Cruz did on Pajaro River flood control. Did that contribute to catastrophic levee break?
- Monterey Herald: Monterey County agriculture - Flooding is watering down the bottomline
- CalMatters: California floods, bank collapse expose infrastructure woes and whose safety we value