'Freakish' Storms Damage Crops Around State

Hail, wind, and rain criss-crossed the state this week.

City workers in Bend had to bail out cars from flooded roads.

And small farmers from Salem south reported extensive crop damage.

Ethan Lindsey reports.


The hail, wind, and rainstorms were very localized and very violent.

The damage wasn’t extensive enough to warrant any sort of disaster declaration or call for statewide aid. But individual farms, in unlucky locations, got slammed.

Mari Taylor is co-owner of Lost Creek Farms, south of Eugene.  She says the financial cost on her farm will mean temporary furloughs for some of the workers.

Mari Taylor: “Some crops were just a complete loss. Heads of lettuce were just completely shattered – the hail just ripped them into pieces. They almost looked like you had took a puzzle in a box and dumped it out on the ground.”

Taylor says the damage did bring out some good -- locals came out and helped replant and repair the farm.

The state received millions in federal disaster aid earlier this year, after snow ravaged the state in December.


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