DALE, Ind. (WEHT) — Larry Gries was sitting at home with his family when the storm hit.
“The neighbor over here, my renter, called and said my barn blew away,” he tells us. “So we came over here and seen the mess.”
Gries says he bought the barn in 2011. Since then, he has used it to house animals and farm equipment. He says thankfully, no animals were hurt in the storm.
“We loaded them up yesterday and moved them to a different location.”
The storm ripped the building apart, tossing metal like pieces of paper into the field and powerlines.
“Wow, we had to make sure the renters were okay. We had pigs in the one barn, so we had to get them taking care of, moved and that was priority one.”
Joe Hurst rents this barn on the same property and says he got his truck out minutes before the roof came crashing down.
“I moved it just in time, just saved it,” says Hurst.
Joe Hurst and his wife rode out the storm in their safe place.
“We were in a hallway in the center of the house together. At first we did not get a warning right away, and all of the sudden it was right on top of us,” he says. “We were in our house here and I was holding the door shut, and within 20 seconds, it was gone.”
Hurst said the storm shook the house and he was scared to see what was behind the door.
“It was loud and horrendous and we were just in the eye it seemed like, from the story Twister you know, and uh I just could not believe it. I see nothing but total devastation outside, and I am just glad to be here because God had his hands wrapped around me last night.”
Hurst, Gries and a group of their family and friends started cleaning up. They began taking down what was left of the main barn, climbing the roof and picking up the field. They put the debris into separate piles and burned the damaged wood.
