DES ARC, Ark. – It was another day on the farm for Casey Skarda until he saw something out in the distance.

“I looked out into the north here and seen the tornado hit the ground heading south straight at us,” Skarda said.

An EF-0 tornado appeared not too far from Skarda’s farm. Casey stopped planting soybeans with his brother Corey and one of his employees, got in his truck, and headed back to the shop. That’s when he found himself inside the tornado.

“It happened so fast it wasn’t too bad,” Casey said. “But I sounded like a child screaming so I guess I was a little scared haha.”

Casey’s employee wasn’t able to make it to his truck in time so he held on to a speed tender ladder as tight as he could and made it out fine.

There was a significant amount of damage as a 1,000 lb. barn door was torn off, a barn roof blown off and into the fields, and large trees were torn from the ground.

“It’s kind of fascinating,” Corey said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I did say in the tractor, ‘Lord, if it’s my time to go come and get me because I’m ready.”

Casey said he was monitoring the weather all day and was only expecting light rain. Now after his first tornadic experience, he learned a very important lesson.

“You better always be ready to go,” Casey said while laughing.