<span>"crops withered, curled up, then died under the thirsty sun"
</span><span>"morning in July a hurricane came out of the east snapping their roots and tearing them out of the earth"
</span><span>"a voice that seemed to rumble out of the earth itself"</span>
A hyporbole is being used
hope this helps
Answer
According to <em>Grammarly,</em>
A gerund phrase is a phrase consisting of a gerund and any modifiers or objects associated with it. A gerund is a noun made from a verb root plus <em>ing </em>(a present participle). A whole gerund phrase functions in a sentence just like a noun, and can act as a subject, an object, or a predicate nominative.
<em>Hope this helps! <3</em>
