Rossburn couple whose house destroyed amazed by kindness
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BRANDON — Brian Brown said he and his wife Bernadine are doing well more than a week after a tornado tore part of their house apart near Rossburn.
Brown said the couple has moved into a smaller place in town, and are waiting on word about insurance before they can start moving and recovering items for their home built in 1904.
“We’re in as good a spot as we’re going to be in, I guess,” Brown said Wednesday, 10 days after the storm.
29062026 The home belonging to Brian and Bernadine Brown south of Rossburn, Manitoba on Monday after a powerful tornado hit the property on Sunday evening while Brian and Bernadine were inside. Their home, several other buildings on the property, vehicles and hundreds of trees were all heavily damaged by the tornado, but luckily escaped uninjured. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
The couple was able to move into a smaller place in Rossburn three days after the tornado and will likely be staying there over the winter.
The new rental is quite a bit smaller than their old three-storey house, but opened up at a good time, as the previous tenants moved out a day before the Browns moved in.
He said his wife is taking the whole situation a bit harder, and he was in the same spot as her for a few days after the destruction happened.
“I think I just kind of got settled now. It took me three or four days to kind of realize what had happened. Even when I go out there now, there’s so much destruction that you kind of get discouraged as to what you can do and what you can’t do,” Brown said.
The couple was able to find four of their five cats. One is still missing.
A neighbour has also taken in three horses.
The response from the community has been great, he said.
The other night, the couple went to a Chinese restaurant and another customer paid the bill, he said.
“The people here are really good. And then, of course, we hear back from people from all over that picked it up on the news and TV, and whatever, so you get texts and phone calls all the way from Victoria.”
29062026 Brian Brown looks over the devastation to his property south of Rossburn, Manitoba on Monday after a powerful tornado hit the property on Sunday evening while Brian was at home with his wife Bernadine. Their home, several other buildings on the property, vehicles and hundreds of trees were all heavily damaged by the tornado. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
The positive messages are also coming from total strangers and old golf friends they hadn’t seen in 35 years.
The home’s ceiling has started to cave in and the drywall is wet because of the rain last week.
He said recovering items will be tougher now. Some important items have been moved to the nearby workshop and the couple was able to recover some of their clothes.
Brown said his current living arrangement is not his ideal situation as he prefers to live outside the town, but it is positive that he can still use his workshop.
“Hydro has been really good. We got power there now, so I can still drive out there all winter and work in my workshop if I want,” he said.
— Brandon Sun