"God is good," said Janet Hildebrand as she and her family survey the damage left by a tornado that whipped through the Darlingford area Wednesday evening.
"This morning, everything feels a little bit surreal and boxed in, because all of the big trees are down around the house," she explained.
Hildebrand lives about 9 miles west of Morden, near Darlingford. She had just sat down to dinner with her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter when Alert Ready sounded, issuing a Tornado Warning.
"We were just looking at the skies and checking out the clouds, seeing the situation, and just like that, the yard was kind of full of dust and debris. The wind picked up so quickly. So, we ditched everything, I grabbed my granddaughter's hand, and we ran down the stairs to the basement."
From a basement window, Hildebrand says they could see all of the debris, dirt, grass and dust flying around, making the yard grey and dark. Her son suspects he saw a bit of the tornado's funnel but was unable to snap a photo. When they emerged five or six minutes later, they were shocked by the enormity of what happened.
"There are several big trees down but, at the same time, we are truly feeling the hand of God's protection because these trees, several of them were close to the house and other buildings and there wasn't a window broken, there isn't a shingle off, there wasn't a hydro wire that was damaged in any way. We are grateful. We are feeling protection."
Hildebrand says she's never been this close to a tornado, adding she was in shock at how quickly it all happened.
"It's not something to joke at. If you're feeling like there's any kind of threat, take the precautions, go to the basement and be safe," she said.
Meantime, Hildebrand says the downed trees have a lot of memories attached to them from the 18 years her family has been on the farm.
"We kind of joked yesterday, there's this one old tree right in front of the house here that, since we moved here 18 years ago, my husband every year had said, 'This tree, it's leaning funny' or 'it's kind of old. It's gonna go this year. We're going to have to make sure to plant different things'. Now, when I'm considering that I'll probably be moving off of this property, this is the year that old tree goes down. Definitely, that one has a lot of sentimental value."
Now, the clean-up begins, and Hildebrand has a list of family and friends she'll be calling on to lend a hand. For the large trees however, she fully expects to be calling in the professionals.
With files from Robyn Wiebe