luckily the grapes were all picked - cropland not so lucky

[ensho]

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?smp=&lang=eng


Hailstones, torrential rain and gales have cut a path of destruction through farmland south-east of Margaret River. The Weather Bureau said a mini-tornado was responsible for the damage, which hit the Alexandra Bridge and Scott River areas on Wednesday afternoon leaving paddocks looking like snowfields. Locals described how big chunks of ice damaged homes, sheds, cars and orchards. The wine industry escaped major damage having finished the bulk of its vintage in recent weeks. Tia Polain and her family watched in horror as hailstones pelted their Alexandra Bridge home, 18km east of Karridale. Mrs Polain said the hail “sounded like gunshots going off”, dented the families’ cars and smashed taillights and a shed roof. Hailstones smashed one neighbour’s lounge room window and another’s front and back windscreen on their car. Truck driver Steve Hooson said he was forced to pull off to the side of the road when the storm cut through paddocks south-east of Witchcliffe, sending cattle running through fences. “It just poured down with hail, you couldn’t see, and the wind was so ferocious, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “When it stopped it looked like a snow field. You see these pictures of Europe with the cattle standing out in the white, well that’s exactly what it looked like.” Margaret River Wine Industry Association president Peter Wood said if the storm had hit a few weeks earlier it would have been devastating for local vignerons but most had finished picking grapes. )
------------------------------------


RSOE now has a section devoted just to hail storm reports. severe hail is doing much destruction around the world and even killing people and animals.