By admin 
BUCKEYE, AZ (AZFamily) — Back-to-back monsoon storms have left a family ranch in Buckeye with uprooted trees, twisted metal and significant damage.
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Kerr Family Farms, located just outside Buckeye, has been in operation since the 1970s. Owner William Kerr said trees that had stood on the property for 50 years were ripped from their roots by the storms.
‘We’ve been praying for rain’
Kerr said the rain itself was not unwelcome, but the destruction that came with it was.
“Oh man, definitely, we’ve been praying for rain,” Kerr said. “We’re in about a 20-year drought, so we need the rain.”
The storms stripped metal sheeting from the barn and displaced grain silos.
“This used to be our shop here, this is where we used to store some of our stuff,” he said.
Back-to-back storms ‘something else’
Kerr said he has seen plenty of storms over the years, but consecutive hits of this magnitude were unusual.
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“We haven’t had these kind of storms in a while,” he said.
He said the ranch recorded more than three inches of rain in 24 hours. Kerr said the saturated ground is too soft to bring in heavy equipment, meaning cleanup will have to wait until the soil dries out.
Family to lead the rebuild
Kerr said restoring the ranch will be a family effort, one he is counting on his grandchildren to help carry out, so the property is ready for the next generation.
“It’s a good place to raise a family and also raise some cattle,” Kerr said.
He acknowledged the cost of repairs will be significant.
“It’s gonna be a pretty good little bill, I think,” he said.
Despite the damage, Kerr said he is not discouraged.
“We’ve got a mess, but we’ll get it cleaned up,” he said. “[Laughs] I just kind of shook my head and said, well, we’ll make it good again.”
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