TUCSON – Hurricane Irma hit Tucson recently, wreaking havoc on Tucson’s floral industry. According to Jim Stith of Sav On Flowers, there has never been such a disruption in service from both farm level to marketing. “I was born and grown up in the flower business, as well as my son, Kalyn. We’ve never seen something like this before in our experience,” said Jim Stith.

Tucson’s Floral Industry is Reeling After Hurricane

Around 70% of all flowers in the U.S. at a given time are produced in South America. The huge part of the product is flown from South America to Miami Florida, after which it is being shipped to florists such as Mayfield Florist and Sav On Flowers in Tucson.

Sav On Flowers was planned before the hurricane hit. As they knew the hurricane was headed to Florida, they quickly ordered flowers for the upcoming wedding and celebrations beforehand. “It was the only way that we could solve the problem. We didn’t want to ruin bride’s day by cause of a natural disaster”, said Kalyn Stith.

At Mayfield Florist, seven brides will have the flowers that they dreamt about, this weekend. Greg Coleman said, “Our vendors chartered a flight from Bogota to Los Angeles.  The flowers were then placed on a truck and delivered to Tucson on Monday. The recent disaster had a huge impact on the floral industry. Earthquakes in Mexico, hurricanes in Houston and Florida, fires in the west from Washington state all the way across Oregon and to California have disrupted the floral industry.”

The shipping is the main issue now. The product is there but the shipping has its challenges. After all, shipping is slightly different from shipping cars. There are different challenges that can make times like these even more difficult for the floral world.