The brothers Bartle (Matt and Mike) of Mechanic Street in Oxford Village knew the weather was rough.
‘At about 7:45 p.m. we looked up over our house,? Matt said. ‘We saw the clouds swirling and moving. It wasn’t a tornado yet.?
Mike grabbed his digital camera he bought a month ago and the brothers hopped into their 1992 Buick Roadmaster. With Matt behind the wheel, and Mike riding shotgun, east across Lakeville Road they travelled. According to Mike there were only a few other cars on the road as the weather brewed ominously overhead.
‘It took us about 15 minutes to get to Lakeville,? Matt said.
They stopped their car on between Curtis Road and Maple when they looked north and saw a funnel cloud start forming.
‘There was no sound at all until it landed,? Matt said. ‘Then when it hit it was only down for about five or six seconds. Then it went up and was gone. It didn’t sound like a freight train.?
Mike added, ‘It was weird. It sounded like water being sucked up.?
Mike took pictures and the brothers offered some to the Wiseman family, whose home was ruined by the tornado.
‘We felt bad for them,? Matt said. ‘We weren’t gawking. We wanted them to have proof, that there really was a tornado.?