Island farmers assess damage from hail storm

Farmers aresizing up damage from a hail storm that hit the Island on Friday. Tania MacKenzieof MacKenzieProduce saidsome of her crops won't recover.

MacKenzie saidthe hail flattened her sunflowers and bruised her squash.

"Some of the pumpkin leaves have snapped in areas where the blossoms are, which affects the pumpkin growing and there will not be a pumpkin because of that. I don't even know where to begin."

'It was like a hurricane'

MacKenzie saidher staff were in the midst of harvesting cabbage when the hail hit.

"I was in the house trying to get some payroll stuff and I looked out the window, and the trees, leaves and branches started going sideways.It was like a hurricane hit P.E.I.," she said.

"It was an unusual sound. It was raining, but it was hailing, and it was like you took an ice box and dumped ice cubes everywhere."

MacKenziesaidshe hasn't yet put a dollar amount on the damage.

Damage widespread

The P.E.I. Potato Board saidseveral hundred acres of potatoes were also damaged, mostly in Queens County, west of Charlottetown.

In addition to damage from the hail, the board saidthis year'spotato crop was already behind schedule, due to unseasonable cold weather back in June.

Despite the deluge Friday, the board saidfarmers are still hoping for more rain.

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