Family safe after tornado destroyed barn

Family safe after tornado destroyed barn

What could only be a tornado hit the Fish barn at Cuyler Saturday afternoon.

CUYLER, FL. - A large barn at the home of Iona Fish on Wassie Fish Road near Cuyler was destroyed when a probable tornado blew apart about two-thirds of their huge 30 foot x 300 foot pole barn. In an interview with her son, Aaron Fish, he described seeing the tornado heading toward them.

Mr. Fish along with his 13-year old son and a friend, also 13, were riding horses that afternoon and had stopped about a mile from the barn at a neighborhood store to talk to his cousin for about 15 minutes.

"That probably saved our lives," said Fish. "We would have all been in the barn when it hit."

They had started getting bad weather and hail when they started home. That’s when they saw the tornado touch down in front of them. They stopped, huddled the horses together and just watched the tornado move toward the timberline.

About two-thirds of the huge pole barn was destroyed by the storm.                                         PHOTOS BY JUD JOHNSON                                         jud@judjohnsonphoto.com

"It bounced off the timber and we could see big pieces of wood coming off all over the place," he said. "Then it swung around behind us, hit the big field where it seemed to pick up speed and that’s when it hit the barn."

Mr. Fish said it was raining so hard by this time all you could see was rain, hay and roof insulation flying through the air.

The barn was storing almost $12,000 worth of hay. Some of  the hay was scheduled to be sold and hauled away on Monday.

"It was a once in a lifetime experience that left me kind of shaky," said Fish. "My son and the  neighbor boy were scared to death."

This limb showed a twisting pattern usually seen as a indicator of tornadoes.