BARNSLEY, Ky. — A Hopkins County family is rebuilding their lawn care business after being hit a second time by a tornado.
Tornado survivor Mark Minton’s property once had a shop for his lawn care business.
Minton said, “This was where my shop was located, been going on for about 17 years. I had my equipment in for lawn care and firewood sales.”
But now, his shop is gone. Sunday’s tornado destroyed the Minton family’s property.
He evacuated 30 minutes before the tornado rolled through Barnsley. When he got back, he was thankful, despite his property being destroyed.
Minton said, “First thought was ‘I’m thankful my family is safe, thankful everybody is okay.’ Once I knew that all the neighbors were accounted for, that was a breath of relief.”
Shards of metal, trash and even pieces of neighbor’s property covered his yard.
This isn’t the first time Minton and his family have dealt with disaster.
On Dec. 10, 2021, they were also hit by the EF4 tornado that killed over 80 people across western Kentucky.
Minton said, “It completely destroyed the entire house, ripped the roof off.”
Now, Minton is repeating this process. However, this time around, his house was not badly damaged, and luckily, he has some help to pick up the pieces.
Gabriel Vancleve, who also survived the tornado, has been helping Minton. She said, “They definitely need help with all of this out here. I didn’t even tell him I was showing up. I think he really appreciates it. But I’m just going to try to be here all week if I can.”
The Minton family is taking in the process one day at a time.
Minton said, “There’s no way to get over it. You have to get through it.”