CABOT, Ark. — It has been a very wet week in Central Arkansas as several back-to-back storms rolled through the area.
Even though things seem to be drying up now, some people have still been dealing with the aftermath of the recent storms. Holland Bottom Farm in Cabot was struck by a couple of lightning strikes that ruined about a 50-foot area.
The owner, Tim Odom expressed how he's just glad it happened at the end of the strawberry season.
"This is exactly where it hit, definitely killed that plant and so everything here is brown, it is done," Odom described.
A big color difference could be seen after lightning struck one of the strawberry fields on Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, Odom said it's not that uncommon for something like that to happen.
"It's not the first one we've ever had in the field. I've had three or four at one time, which, when you have that many at one time, it eats up the acreage. And if it's early in the season, you're done picking there," he described.
While it's never something he wishes for, he said it's better to have it happen this time of year.
"We're at the end of the season, so we're okay with that," Odom added.
He took to social media to show customers the damage.
"Every time we see lightning, we stop picking. Some customers get upset, but it's not worth somebody's dying over," he explained.
However, lightning isn't the only thing causing problems, all the rain we've seen in the past few weeks has also caused some issues for them.
"It makes the job 10 times harder," he added.
Though he said they still keep up with picking the strawberries.
"A neighbor farmer about 14 miles from here said he had 44 inches so far this year since January 1. So we're somewhere close to that. It's been tough, but we've made it," he said.
If Odom had to pick though, he said he prefers all the rain over a drought.
"It's going to dry out real quick so I gotta get ready to do 30 acres of plastic and I can't do it without the moisture. So a man told me in 1981 we were in a drought and to never be mad about the rain because you can't grow nothing in a drought. So I'm not mad. I'm happy for the rain but it needs to quit just a little bit," he explained.
Holland Bottom wasn't the only farm impacted by recent storms. Others in the area got hit by massive hail recently, but there is help available.
Row crop farmers with storm damage can receive disaster assistance through the USDA's farm service agency.
For more information, please click here.