LINWOOD, Kan. — On this Thanksgiving, some local farmers are just grateful to have a roof over their heads.
This, after a tornado left a path of destruction in its wake.
At Lin-Crest farm, tending to the cattle is a constant in Rob and Lisa Leach's life.
"We don't have near as many chores as we used to we're just taking care of a few cattle now," Rob Leach said.
Six months ago, the husband and wife were out doing those chores when an alert from the 41 Action News weather team came through Rob's phone.
They sought shelter before an E-F-4 tornado ripped through Leavenworth county.
"The whole landscape of the whole neighborhood has changed. It's you know, everybody says it all the time when they drive out here. All the houses are gone. We're the only occupied house on our street," Rob Leach said.
The 170-mile-per-hour winds killed 20 cows, damaged farm equipment and destroyed 11 buildings--mostly barns.
"That's been going slower than we like but but you know, it took us a lifetime to to build this place and we're not going to get it all rebuilt in a few months," Rob Leach said.
Driving into Linwood, there is twisted metal strewn about. The Leach family has made a pile of it. They have sold 171,000 pounds of scrap metal but they don't believe it's half of it.
"We get a chance to do it over again. So that's we got that going for us," Rob Leach said.
On this Thanksgiving, they're taking a moment to pause.
"Our families is intact and we still have a home," Rob Leach said.
A moment to appreciate.
"Just the tremendous thankfulness i have to all our friends and family that helped us rebuild, the kindness of strangers," Lisa Leach said. "Our dairy community has really supported us tremendously financially."
And a moment to reflect.
"Just kind of makes you you know, be thankful for everything that you have and don't take anything for granted," Rob Leach said.
