A Go Fund Me page has been set up for a Chatsworth Family whose farm was destroyed by Saturday’s tornado.
The fundraising page says Brandon and Roxie Zehr, along with their five young children, lost, “A significant chunk of their house,” and their “barn, vehicles, tools, toys, trees were all destroyed.”
The page, created by Tim Chambers, reports it’s doubtful an older section of the house left standing will be repairable due to structural and water damage and Chambers says the family’s insurance is unlikely to cover the cost of rebuilding everything.
Chambers writes, “This is our opportunity as a community to show what we can do when we work together.”
Roxie Zehr says she was home with her kids who had just settled onto the couch to watch a movie when the wind picked up.
“Then the rain came down so I asked my daughter to go and close the windows. Then all of a sudden, our patio furniture just flew off the deck.” says Zehr.
“I told the kids, ‘run…run to the basement,’ so they all just ran to the basement and thankfully our dog followed.”
Zehr says, “It was really fast. I try to recall what had happened and it just feels like it all just happened in a matter of minutes. We saw the wind, we saw the rain and then we just ran into the basement.”
“Once we heard the wind die down, I asked the kids to stay in the basement and I went and hunted down my phone and started contacting people to make sure everybody was okay,” says Zehr.
Zehr says, “Just looking out and seeing that we had absolutely no mudroom, no garage. So just half of our house was wiped out, like nothing left of it. It was something, that’s for sure.”
The family’s van was thrown quite a distance, notes Zehr, saying, “Our van was actually parked right in front of our mudroom and then van, was not there when i came out of the basement and started looking around. The van was way off in our backyard.”
She says her immediate reaction was awe at what a tornado can do.
“Everything was there minutes before and then all of a sudden, just gone. I was just so thankful to hear that friends and neighbours were all okay and, my kids, they did great and they were all okay and so i was just very, very grateful that we were just all okay,” says Zehr.
She says, instantly people were coming to help, “Friends, family, community members, church members, neighbours, just everybody has been wonderful…just to offer things, help out in any way they can,” says Zehr, adding, “It’s been a blessing.”
Meanwhile Tim Chambers says on the GoFundMe page, “Usually when an accident happens a family might lose a vehicle, a shop, a house or a barn. I can’t imagine losing everything in the short time it took that tornado to move across their yard.”
He says all money donated will go directly to the Zehrs for immediate and long-term rebuilding needs.
As of 1:30 p.m. Monday, the fund has raised nearly $62,000.
Meanwhile, Chatsworth resident Jennifer Green has organized a donation drop off tonight (Monday) and Tuesday night from 6 to 8 at the legion in Chatsworth on Highway 6.
She says the family could use the following:
Shoes Children’s sizes 6,4,3,2
Sizes 11-13 Toddler & toddler 8
Men’s 11
Women’s 8
Green says the family wears Crocs all summer.
Towels, bath and beach
Swimwear
Grocery gift cards
Pillows
Toilet paper & cleaning supplies
Bike helmets
Booster seat & car seat
Nintendo switch
The children are a two year old boy, a four year old girl, a six year old boy, and eight year old boy and a girl who is nearly twelve.
