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While searching for a triple chest of drawers in his bedroom, Brian Brown could only find one drawer front.
“Where the hell did it go?” the Manitoba retiree said Monday.
“It took us 10 years to renovate it,” he said of the house. “We’ve been here for 22 years. It took 10 seconds.”
Brown spent some time that day sorting through everything he had salvaged after a tornado destroyed his century-old farmhouse over the weekend in Rossburn, about 275 kilometers west of Winnipeg.
“I’ve never seen wind like this,” he said. “He broke out the two big windows in the front and the door at the same time—he just kicked them right in.” And the trees—like, the whole forest fell.”
A tornado touched down in southwestern western Manitoba on Sunday evening as severe thunderstorms moved across the region.
Environment and Climate Change Canada said parts of the province were hit by wind gusts of 70 to 100 kilometers per hour, with quarter-size hail in Shell Valley and reports of another tornado in the Roblin area.
The tornado blew off the roof of the brick home as well as the top half of the family barn. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
Rossburn Mayor Shirley Kalynuk said Monday that at least one other home was affected by the tornado in the community, although no one was inside at the time.
“I was just changing my underwear, so I didn’t realize it was that bad,” Brown’s wife, Bernadine, said, adding that he told her to “get on the floor.”
The tornado blew off the roof of a brick home and the top half of a family barn.
Bernadine said she and her husband were lucky to get shelter just before the tornado sent shards of glass and other debris flying through the air.
Environment and Climate Change Canada says parts of the province experienced wind gusts of 70 to 100 kilometers per hour on Sunday. (Submitted by Barb McIvor)
Their cats were also unharmed. However, many of the pensioners’ belongings, including glasses and hearing aids, were buried under the rubble.
“It rained last night and then the roof was gone,” Brian Brown said. “So, some clothes you were going to keep, now what?”
The Browns bought the farmhouse next to Brian’s childhood home more than two decades ago. The house was built in 1904, and the couple worked to restore it for several years.
“We hadn’t really talked about what we were going to do yet, but Brian was a lot younger when we did all the work ourselves,” Bernadine said. “That’s not possible right now because he’s also fighting cancer.”
Brian Brown in front of his historic barn. He says it’s too much to think about what else is needed to continue the work. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
Environment Canada said a team will be in the community to assess the damage caused by the tornado.
Kalyniuk said she would speak with the city council to see how it could support the affected families.
The Browns said their family and friends were able to provide them with stability and a neighbor agreed to take their three horses. They also wanted to contact their insurance company.
Brian said it was too much to think about what else needed to be done.
WATCH | The Rossburn couple lost their home to a tornado in a matter of seconds:
Manitoba family lucky to be alive after tornado destroys home
A couple living near Rossburn, Maine, say it only took seconds for the tornado to reduce their century-old brick home to rubble. They were in the house when this happened.