LINWOOD, Kan. — "You can see from one horizon to the next where the tornado path was," Linwood, Kansas, resident Rob Leach said.
It's been a long year for him and his family.
"We lost 10 buildings up here," Leach said.
May 28, 2019 started off like any other day for the family. They were milking cows and doing house work until Rob and his wife, Lisa heard their 41 Action News Storm Shield App alerted them that a tornado was coming right for them.
The couple ran downstairs into their basement and took cover. Minutes later, they walked outside and everything was gone.
"I got this horrible feeling that I knew someone had died. We were lucky," Lisa Leach said.
Thankfully, they would later learn no one died from the tornado.
The first concern was their animals, when the storm hit.
"We saved a lot of cattle in the first 30 minutes because when cattle get flipped over and when they get their back downhill, they bloat. So in other words, they suffocate. If you can't get them on their feet they will die," Rob Leach said.
They lost more than a dozen cows that night but at least 100 were saved. Their home and barns were torn to pieces, though.
Family, friends, and complete strangers helped clean up for three weeks straight.
"A lot of them we did not know and matter of fact, some we never got to meet. Some people that were here I didn't even know were here. We were very blessed," Rob Leach said.
Now a year later, this Linwood family is working to piece together their life and farm.
"We still find something new everyday that we don't recognize or didn't know we lost," he said.
Their cows are now living at various friends' farms because their four-mile fence is not built yet. The family home though is almost done.
Rob Leach said while they still have barns to build and cattle to bring back, he is just thankful to be alive.
"We are very lucky. We are very blessed," he said.
