Indiana County family loses barn due to Sunday's round of severe weather
The storms that moved through the Pittsburgh region on Sunday afternoon pushed in fast and furiously. A lot of damage was seen around the region, including downed trees and power lines, but nothing speaks to the ferocity of the winds like the devastation of a barn in Burrell Township near Blairsville.
It likely took the Barron family weeks to build this barn in the late 1870s, but within minutes on Sunday afternoon, the fourth and fifth generations of this clan watched as it was ripped apart by high winds.
Daniel Barron, who was inside the barn when the storm hit, says he barely escaped with his life.
"The wind just started picking up and I decided to jump on my quad and make a run for the house," said Daniel. "It was about 10 seconds after that, I looked back and there was about a 20x20 wall up in the air, just pure wood from the barn."
Some of that flying debris nicked Daniel in the head. He made it back to their farmhouse where he and the rest of the Barron family, his father Kris, mother Karla, and sister Rachel, were all taking cover.
While family says no one officially saw a funnel cloud form and touch down, they all witnessed debris from the barn swirling in mid-air.
"I am shaken up and just devastated, you know, a lot of damage," Daniel said.
The Barron family is now working to clean up the mess and debris, but they say they have a long road ahead.
Every family member KDKA-TV spoke with on Sunday said, however, that they are grateful that nobody was severely injured when this barn came down.
