© National Weather Service

It’s more bad news for the hard-hit Big Bend. The Sunshine State’s timber industry suffered millions worth of damage from Hurricane Idalia. A bleak assessment from Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson means the Big Bend region will need immediate and long-term attention from authorities. Simpson’s Office figures that the Category 4 storm wreaked havoc to the tune of more than $64,750,000 in the tree sector alone. It’s the latest toll on the timber industry, which is still reeling from news last week that a massive cellulose plant would be pulling out of the region, having an immediate impact on the hundreds of Floridians who work there and an untold effect on their families and those in lines of work adjacent to the soon-to-be-shuttered mill. In a statement, Simpson stressed that the Big Bend’s reliance on timber makes the forecast all the more “devastating.”