"Total devastation": One farm in Howell hit particularly hard by hail during Thursday's storm
(CBS DETROIT) - By the middle of June, farmers' crops are usually thriving. But in an instant Thursday, a hail storm decimated nearly 100 acres of land in Howell.
Now late into the season, it's a major hit by mother nature for Bentley Lake Farms.
"It used to be crops, beautiful crops. But now you can see … total devastation," said CJ Turner, who co-owns Bentley Lake Farms with his daughter Heidi Baron.
The farm is in an unfortunately unique situation. Thursday afternoon's hail storm hit their acreage hard, but the surrounding land didn't receive the same treatment.
"It was the size of probably golf balls," said Baron of the hail. "It was coming down in droves. It was insane. I've never seen anything like it. My dad has never seen anything like it, and he's been around a lot longer than I have. He's been farming a lot longer than I have."
The hail dented cars and roofs all over Howell.
"I won't be able to get into the field for at least a week because we got probably three inches of rain in 15 minutes," said Turner.
The saturated soil, decimated plants, and lateness of the season mean the hail storm packed a punch financially.
"There's a saying you're one hail storm away from bankruptcy, and we got a ton of hail," said Baron.
Some of the crops can be replanted, but they tell CBS News Detroit they'll be relying on their community to get through this tough growing season.