The mayor of Sapahaqui, Justino Calle, stated that last weekend's hailstorm had destroyed the October fruit and citrus harvest in a devastating five minutes. The damage hasn't yet been quantified but have authorities have begun a damage assessment in the hope of Governnment of La Paz assistance for the area.
"On Friday afternoon, when we were at a summit of farmers in Caracato, there was an unexpected and tremendous hailstorm that destroyed the fruit trees that were maturing in less than five minutes. Then on Saturday, when we were going to harvest the fruit we found that they were on the ground," he said.
He said that nearly 20 communities had been affected by the hailstorm which damaged the only source of income for farmers in the area. Thus, they asked the departmental authorities for aid.
"We can not quantify the damage because each hectare has between 100 and 150 trees, so we still can not evaluate the economic damage there's been. I asked for an assessment at the time, but we still don't know the scope of the damage. We've seen the fruits on the floor and it was very sad," he added.
He also said that the damask variety and the pears intended for domestic consumption had been the most affected fruits and urged authorities to aid them at this desperate time.
