Bad weather in Puglia: hail and tornadoes damage the vineyards

A violent and sudden wave of bad weather has hit Puglia in the last few hours, with hailstorms, water bombs, strong gusts of wind and vortex phenomena that have caused damage in the countryside. According to Coldiretti Puglia, the situation is particularly difficult for the table grape vineyards in the countryside of Gioia del Colle and Santeramo in Colle, where the hail hit the bunches right in the middle of the harvest campaign. The bad weather, according to the reconnaissance carried out by the association, affected a large swathe of the region, from Bari to Brindisi, with hailstorms and storms also reported in the areas of Acquaviva delle Fonti and Cassano delle Murge.

In the vineyards of Gioia del Colle and Santeramo "the hail caused damage to the grapes, compromising the quality and marketability of the grapes, while the violent and concentrated rain increases the risk of rot precisely in the phase in which the companies are busy harvesting and delivering the product".

The consequences of the wind are even more serious, with uprooted trees and damaged plants and the need to check for any damage to agricultural plants and structures. In the Cassano delle Murge area, the strong wind also caused the fall of trees, confirming the violence of the gusts that accompanied the passage of the disturbance.

Coldiretti therefore asks the Region "to promptly activate the technical structures for verifying damage to production, plants and agricultural structures, with inspections in the affected countryside and a timely reconnaissance of the losses suffered by companies. The priority is now to quickly quantify the damage in agricultural companies and activate all the available tools to support the affected farmers, protecting the companies' income and production continuity".