CAMP VERDE, AZ — From his painted blue front porch, life at Sunnyside Farm in Camp Verde, Arizona was right side up for a decade, until Wednesday.
“You could hear the water just rushing...It literally only took about 10 to 15 minutes for the whole field to be underwater," said Marshall Miglin.
The Verde River flood waters washed the farm, and it was a race against time to get animals to safety. Unfortunately, only 20 of the 200 chickens out in the field were saved.
“It’s hard,” Miglin explained. “It does become a little more emotional because it’s something you’re putting your time, your effort, your passion into.”
As the waters got higher, the focus became the pigs. Jeff Wiest lives on the property and sprang into action.
“All of a sudden the water really came up,” Wiest recalls. “I’m on top of the pig house and I’m filming on my phone.”
Copper Canyon Fire and Medical responded to Sunnyside’s 911 call.
“After they rescued me and dropped me off, they got a rope and went to go rescue pigs,” Wiest said.
Fortunately, no one was hurt. Thursday was all hands on deck to clean what was left of Sunnyside Farm.
“Feeders, waters, you name it,” Miglin said. “We pretty much lost everything on that field.”
Several feet of water fed into their basement full of heirlooms. Miglin gestured to a wooden table and said, “My uncle actually built it when he was in high school.”
With tearful eyes, he continued, “To me, it’s a hard loss because you can’t replace that.”
The damage is so severe, Sunnyside Farm doesn’t have an answer if they can afford to continue.
