The hail also cracked the car's front windshield. Band Chief Joseph Gilbert says the island was among the worst-hit communities in the area as several residents reported extensive damage to their vehicles. Port Lambton was equally hard hit by the storm with several residents reporting broken windows, damaged boats and ruined flower beds. Port Lambton-area farmer Dora Dobbelaar reports hail an inch and a half wide ripped through her family's tomato, cucumber, bean and wheat crops. Still, says Dobbelaar, her extended family proved more fortunate than other area farms since the sporadic nature of the hail storm proved especially unpredictable since some areas were spared while other farms, specifically the tobacco farms in the Blenheim area, were virtually destroyed.
Life is funny that way.
You do your best and try to make the most of it. Other examples of the storm's unpredictable nature include the fact that Ron Van Damme's farm was all right because the family had already shaved the crops while Prairie Siding farmer Robert Johnston's entire 110-acre soybean crop was lost. On a more positive note, Johnston's wheat was saved as he had harvested it the day before. The group was quickly forced inside when the hail began to shatter the light bulbs hanging over head. On the good news front, Benedict's apples and peppers are covered by insurance, but other vegetables and fruit like the plums and zucchini were destroyed.