The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, one of the most intense on record, highlighted the growing challenges posed by climate change. With 18 named storms—four more than average—the season was fueled by record-high ocean temperatures and other climatic shifts. Major hurricanes, such as Helene and Milton, caused widespread destruction across Florida, devastating agricultural communities and testing recovery efforts.
Growing up in Florida, I’ve witnessed the devastation hurricanes can bring firsthand. When the 2024 season struck, I set out to explore its impact on small, local businesses in my community over Thanksgiving break. I connected with two farms near my home—one a fish hatchery and the other a small chicken homestead—both operated by teams of just two to five people.
For this video I had a few goals–to film in the field and ask questions in the moment to get a genuine feel for the farmer and to get up close with the impact. I also wanted to tell a story about the impact of the storm, what the specific issue was, and what the recovery process looks like. For Kurstan, it was the oxygen tanks, causing him to reconsider how he will set up his system. For Alan, it was downed trees that destroyed coops, creating a massive cleanup initiative.
To start my process, I set up a time with Kurstan Noles, the owner of Sunshine’s Inc. on Wednesday. He was excited to talk–I only had to ask him two questions because he continued to talk for 30 minutes without prompt. He told me about how devastating the hurricanes were and how he is 1 year behind in fish growth resulting in $300,000 in losses. He explained to me how all of his machines worked and how other fisheries in the area also lost considerable amounts of fish. My primary goal with this video is to shed light on the recovery efforts of small businesses, so I asked him about governmental relief, in which he then went on about for seven minutes, complaining about the high prices of insurance. Unfortunately, I did not realize that he would have multiple generators working at once, causing the audio on my recordings to be compromised.
My experience at the chicken farm was much different. It took me five days to finally connect with Alan and Renee. We both kept getting times wrong, it started to rain, texts unanswered. Finally, on Saturday, I drove to the farm at our agreed upon time in hopes that someone would greet me at the gate. When Alan did, it took him about 15 to realize I was there to interview him. After those hiccups, the interview went well. He described a lot of the damage and I was able to see firsthand the efforts that he and his wife are still pursuing, three months later.
The editing process was a challenge. Because I finally got my last interview on Saturday and I was returning to campus on Sunday, I had to edit my project on Monday. Which wouldn’t have been an issue if it weren’t for the Picchi room being filled and my request for a media room being cancelled. So, I resorted to iMovie, which is unfortunately not the greatest software for cutting down generator noise. I also had trouble locating a free audio enhancer tool for video. The editing process took about 6 hours, most of which included attempting to reduce the background noises–all which eventually failed because the generator had the same level as Kurstan’s voice. My solution? Captions (which also took forever because every software wanted me to pay!)
Much like my podcast project, navigating the technological side of this assignment was a challenge. However, the experience of conducting interviews and managing the production process was incredibly rewarding. I gained insight into the operations of two small farms in my community—a fish hatchery and a chicken homestead—and the innovative strategies they use to withstand and recover from natural disasters. I enjoyed getting to know these two men and interacting with a a new environment. It was fascinating to see how resourceful these farms are in preparing for inevitable challenges, balancing day-to-day operations with the looming threat of hurricanes.
