Family farm near Christie Lake destroyed by Perth, Ont. tornado

A family in the community of Tay Valley is picking up the pieces of their barn after it was destroyed by Wednesday's tornado near Perth, Ont.

"It was over by 7:35 p.m. when I started videoing the damage, and we got the alert at 7:38 p.m.," says Derrek Brady.

He and his wife MacKayla have lived in their Tay Valley home for four years. It is located just minutes from Christie Lake, where it has been confirmed one tornado touched down Wednesday evening.

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"You could tell it was more than your average storm. By the time it reached the trees, I had realized that I needed to get back to the house," Derrek said.

"As soon as we saw those [barn] doors go to 90 degrees, that's when we knew it was time to go get our family from upstairs and try and take shelter," said MacKayla.

The roughly 100-year-old barn now sits in tatters, with pieces of wood and tin roof strewn hundreds of metres in every direction.

The barn was home to four horses, all of which were outside the structure at impact.

Miraculously, the Brady's family home located just 140 feet beside their barn remained virtually untouched.

"Thankful," expressed Derrek.

"One degree (difference) on its trajectory, it could have been a different story. They'd be going to search for us under that house."

Wednesday's tornado was reported to have touched down in the Christie Lake area, which is home to private cottages and campgrounds.

Video taken by cottagers near the Jordan's Cottages campground shows a wall of rain storming across Christie Lake, before circulation of the clouds can be seen beginning over the water.

"As far as I could tell, it was just a storm coming through, but a lot louder," said John Zeitoun, a long-time cottage renter at Jordan's Cottages.

"We went inside and got away from the windows, because who knows what was going to get blown in. It lasted about two minutes, and after that it was just rain. But there were 20 or 30 trees that fell in two minutes," Zeitoun told CTV News.

No injuries were reported at the campground. Minimal damage occurred, with only trees being broken, resulting in one crushed vehicle.