Southern New Mexico homeowners, farmers struggle with hail damage

VADO, New Mexico -- This past weekend's hail storm caused quite a bit of damage for both homeowners in the southern New Mexico community of Vado as well as farmers in the La Mesa area, and they've found themselves struggling in the aftermath.

Vado resident Shannon Entringer told ABC-7 the hail broke windows in her home and also on the storage trailer on property; the marks made by the hail and broken glass from the windows were very visible.

"Thank God we have double-paned windows in our house or the hail would of come into our home," said Entringer, who added that "the sides of the trailer looked like Mother Nature took a shotgun to them."

After the hail storm, a La Mesa farm finds itself without a without a field to harvest.

Efrain Porras surveyed the aftermath of the storm on the cotton fields he manages, with broken stalks and leaves littering the rows of cotton where plants are supposed to be standing.

Porras said that the damage means a total loss for this crop and the Diaz Farm.

It's just an added blow for those in the agricultural industry who are emerging from the pandemic which left them with a shortage of labor for the fields.

Porras said there was little that could be done to save the 60-acre fields because "its too late in the season to get anything out there. It's a 100% total loss, as you can probably tell."

Seeing the field in this condition was "devastating" for Porras. It's "heart wrenching, (but) what can you do?"