Before they started cooking supper, Bruce & Joyce McKay decided to fetch home their son and his friend, Dylan Stone - out canoeing on a nearby slough - because of approaching & ominous storm clouds.

Once the boys were safely home, Joyce started cooking supper inside while Bruce barbequed pork-chops on the deck. About 20 minutes later, Bruce scrambled into the house with the meat, yelling for Joyce and the boys to get into the basement because he had sighted a tornado "standing still" just to the west of their farm. It was around 8pm.

A tornado standing still is either moving directly toward, or directly away from you. Bruce wasn't waiting to figure out which it was as he followed the others into the basement. The cloud was just too close and time was precious.

Waiting for the storm to hit their property, the group huddled in a root cellar in the basement, surrounded by glass jars, paint cans and other extremely dangerous items when airborn. Bruce had time to realize that if the funnel hit their yard, it wasn't travelling in its usual direction, and the possibility existed it could turn around. He knew if they survived the first pass, and if time allowed, they had to get to safety. Their part house-trailer home would never endure a second assault.

Above them they could hear and feel the roar of the storm, the attack of flying debris on their home, and then Bruce & Dylan felt their ears pop. After what seemed like eternity, the noise subsided enough that the group ascended the stairs to see the funnel exiting their property to the southeast. A quick view of the damage outside was enough evidence for Bruce to make a final decision to leave, even though Joyce & the boys preferred to return to the basement.

Fortunately, there was still a driveable vehicle in the yard, and even though its back window was blown out, Bruce ordered the group into it with a voice Joyce had never heard before and wasn't about to argue with. Through strong winds and heavy hail, they sped away from the monster cloud to the neighbor's to wait out the storm.

Later, they returned to the yard to find near-to-total destruction. Their home was still standing, however everything else was either partly collapsed, flattened, or missing altogether. The school bus Bruce drives had been picked up and moved about 20 feet into Joyce's fruit trees. The barn was flattened, sheds were missing, their camper trailer had been thrown on its side and had pushed their daughter's car through a fence. The shed they used for a garage was partly pulled down and huge trees were uprooted all over the yard. The siding of their house was missing in some places, embedded with wood in others, and cracked and broken on every side. The van they had driven to escape was embedded with sand.

In the days that followed, the family started to realize that even though their home appeared to be structurally sound, it had been twisted and pulled, and in reality had suffered tremendous damage.

The photos below are incredible testimony to the power of this storm. None of the farmers hit had adequate insurance to cover damage as extensive as they suffered. Bruce & Joyce believe they have been set back 5 years in operation.