Hurricane Helene impacts inventory for Christmas tree farms in Carolinas

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - As some families like to cut down their own Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving, Upholding that holiday tradition might be a little harder in 2024.

Hurricane Helene impacted inventory for Christmas tree farms from the Midlands all the way to western North Carolina.

Christmas tree farmers said although Hurricane Helene impacted their inventory, they are still ready for the busy holiday crowd.

“You make a lot more memories doing it and you’re not helping a big corporation,” said Christmas tree shopper William Cooper-Edens.

This experience is what made William Cooper-Edens want to start the tradition of cutting down his own Christmas tree on a farm with his family.

Bryan Price, the owner of Price’s Christmas Tree Farm, gets half his tree stock from West Jefferson, North Carolina. He says he lost more than 100 trees because of Hurricane Helene.

Price says the hurricane not only reduced the number of trees he could sell in 2024, but also reduced the number of larger trees people could buy.

“We were able to get our trees; we were limited to up to the eight and nine,” Price said, “The ten and eleven foot trees were not available this year.”

Although Price says they will have enough inventory to make it through the holiday season, He says supplies will be more limited without his secondary stock of trees.

“We’re good, but we’re not going to be able to get any extras,” Price said, “Usually (we have) some secondary trees to help fill out the rest of the season so once we’re out, we’re out.”

David Drafts, the owner of Drafts Tree Farm in Lexington, says he sells around 300 trees each year. He says dozens of his trees were knocked over from Hurricane Helene.

Despite the damage, he still has plenty of trees to sell in 2024.

“We had some damage from the storm; a lot of trees were leaning I had to tie them back up, stake them,” Drafts said, “They’re going to be fine now.

Drafts says his trees should last up to 6 weeks if watered and cared for properly. He also cautions a dry tree can create a fire hazard in the house if left near a heater or fireplace.

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