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Farmers in southeastern France took into account the cost of harvests lost Sunday after a violent storm invaded the area with the size of ping-pong balls, decimating orchards and vineyards while the summer season was starting to melt.
"Almost all of my harvest is ruined," said Gregory Chardon, who grows apricots, peaches and cherries at his farm in Roche-de-Glun in the Drome, about an hour's drive south of Lyon.
Even the nets hanging on its fields are not up to the hailstorm that suddenly fell on Saturday afternoon, sowing damaged fruit and broken branches.
"The damage is huge and widespread – cereals, greenhouses and vegetable farms, as well as vineyards," said Chardon.
In the neighboring village of Pont-de-Isere, Aurélien Esprit showed a video of Facebook containing apricots strewn with soil and apple trees in battle in his orchards.
"Unfortunately, the season ended for us last night, and I do not think I can do it this time," he said.
Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume said the state would declare a natural emergency to trigger insurance payments and other aid to farmers facing huge losses.
"It's catastrophic, I've rarely seen such scenes," Guillaume told BFM television during a Sunday tour of the region. "It is unthinkable that farmers are forced to go bankrupt because of that."
The epicenter of the storm was in Romas-sur-Isère where the streets were transformed into torrents.
The hail broke the windshield of the car and severely damaged the roofs of dozens of homes, including destroying the sun on the roof of a gym where a judo competition was taking place.
In the neighboring region of Haute-Savoie, a 51-year-old German woman was killed after a tree fell on her camper during the storm.
Rescuers responded to hundreds of calls for help and officials said 10 people had been injured.
"Such severe weather events are rare, and I have never seen anything like it in this region," said Lieutenant-Colonel Hervé Gabion, a firefighter in the Drôme department.
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