OXBOW — Danny Brock and his family are in the rebuilding process after a tornado destroyed their farm.
On the evening of June 9, their farm southwest of Oxbow was destroyed by an EF3 tornado. Their house, along with other buildings in the yard, were levelled. Brock and three of his children were on the farm during the twister, and hid in the downstairs bathroom during the worst of the storm. His wife, Chelsea, was in Oxbow for work.
Now, the family is rebuilding.
“We just worked on getting the yard all cleaned up,” Brock said in an interview with SaskToday. “We got some pretty big tree piles to get rid of.” He noted the support of fellow farmers coming in to help with yard work, bringing bigger equipment to clear the debris.
“It’s all just kind of dirt right now,” Brock said. “We’re just waiting on insurance.” He also said they’re waiting for a quote on some buildings and a new house, which he knows won’t begin this year.
Community support continues
Brock said that the support from the community has been “overwhelming.”
“People wanting to help and give anything that they [think] we need or whatever. There’s always somebody that either has the piece of equipment or the knowledge to give us a hand and, yeah, it’s pretty great where we live, honestly.”
The tragedy has brought his family closer together, Brock said. He added that despite the time that has passed, there are still moments that they “just sit back and you get lost into space thinking about what happened.”
Brock said that whenever he or his children feel that way, they seek each other out, to spend time together or to have a hug. He said they have worked together to get through the shock of the situation.
“[You] just hang on to each other a little bit and talk through it,” he said.
Brock also noted that his family is glad that the thunderstorms have calmed as the summer continued. June was a rainy month in Oxbow, and July was a month with high heat.
“We were a bit gun shy on any storm that was coming through,” Brock said. His family rallied together during that time, trying to return to normalcy. They’re living in a rental house, he noted, and his children are preparing for school with their friends to begin in September.
“Their friends have been awesome here all summer, keeping their minds off stuff,” he said.
Rebuilding
“Getting your head around [rebuilding] is the first step,” Brock said.
He said when he drives through the hayfields on his tractor, he keeps having to hop out and grab debris he comes across. A cow farmer, he said his herds were moved to different pastures the Friday before the storm.
“They were not in the home quarter when the storm hit,” he said.
The farm is in the family, he also noted, and his parents have stepped up to help with this year’s production, with cutting hay when he and his wife were busy, or involving their kids in the work to keep their minds away from the storm.
“We’ll rebuild the property,” he said. “Definitely will have a basement and a storm shelter.” He noted the uptick in tornadoes this year, and the active storms that often hit near Oxbow.
“It’s something real,” he said. “You’ve got to think about how you’re going to prepare yourself for the next one, and hope there isn’t a next one.”
Brock extends his gratitude to the community that is still supporting them, as well as those who donated to a GoFundMe, which has closed.
“It's really awesome that there's still lots of good in the world.”
