SPRING BROOK TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Joe Eglesia says it was over in about two or three minutes, but that's all the time a tornado needed to tear apart his family's Civil War era barn in Spring Brook Township.
"You didn't have time to be frightened. It just happened that quick. You know, I see it all the time on television, but you don't think it's going to happen to you," said Eglesia.
The tornado ripped through his property near Moscow. The National Weather Service says the tornado was an EF-0 with winds up to 70 miles an hour. It tossed trees and tore half the roof right off the barn.
"I always said, 'If the barn could talk, could you imagine the stories it could tell?' Built during the Civil War days, could you imagine the stories it could tell?"
The barn was built by his wife's great-grandfather. The family even keeps a picture of the workmen ready to start building the barn.
The aluminum roof was put on in 2003, but overall the 19th-century construction techniques stood the test of time.
"No nails hold the beams, just dowels, wooden dowels."
Winds from the tornado even blew over an apple tree about 50 yards away from the barn, and pieces of the barn were even blown into the tree.
Even though the Eglesias have a lot of work on their hands, they still say they have a lot to be grateful for.
"I'm just thankful we have a home to live in. That's all."
The rebuilding process is going to be tough. The family wants to fix the barn in a way that's true to its 19th-century character. But first, they need to find an affordable way to do it.