Floods tore through California crops – now small immigrant farmers face destitution

Government aid programs, set up to favor corporate farms, are out of reach to those who supply farmers markets and restaurants

The water came in a rush - tearing through planted rows of cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower before crashing into the tractors and farm equipment. Within hours, much of Maria Ines Catalan's 41-acre (17-hectare) organic farm in Hollister, California, had disappeared under several feet of water.

She had escaped just in time, as the flood waters gurgled into her trailer home. Now, three months after a series of storms, Catalan and her family are still counting their losses. Their dog, Flor, didn't make it, nor did the bees that Catalan had been tending for two years.