F-1 tornado damages Charlotte County farm

An F-1 tornado touched down in Charlotte County, smashing and destroying anything in its way.

A Chastain Farms employee said a metal barn that withstood Hurricane Ian couldn’t handle the brute force of the early morning tornado.

There’s no telling what path the tornado took. But due to the destruction, a Wright Farms feeder ended up in a tree, and Robert Fitzpatrick, who works for the company, remembered where it was before.

“That feeder came from over there. Right where that ground is, and it came right through here, and come and went right there at an angle, and that’s where it throwed it.. and it hit right into that barn, so it went in and right across there is where it went to,” Fitzpatrick said.

It’s unclear what the path and how far the tornado traveled but it remains under investigation.

“It’s amazing. I don’t know what to say about it to tell you truth,” Russtell Justus, a Chastain Farms employee, said.

Justus walked WINK News through what remains of the watermelon barn.

“It had to be one strong tornado to do this…” Justus said. “It curled it up like it’s nothing.”

And although Wright Farms estimates damage at about $8,000 with just the feeder alone, and Chastain Farms is out more than $100,000, they know the tornado could’ve done much more damage.

“Just have to start over. They got the brunt of it. We just got a little bit, really lucky nobody was hurt thats all that matters. Everything can be replaced, but a life can’t,” Fitzpatrick said.

Wright Farms told WINK News they plan to get a chainsaw and cut the limbs off the tree, hopefully getting the feeder out.