Just enjoying the afternoon mowing the lawn and OH SH*T!! Photo taken at Three Hills at 5:05pm courtesy of Cecilia Wessels. #ABStorm pic.twitter.com/efKfwEgJwo
— Jeff Adams (@jeffmadams) June 3, 2017
Viral photos of tornadoes often turn out to be hoaxes, and such images are a plague that shall not slow in the social media age. But what of this photo of a Canadian man mowing his lawn in the middle of a twister like it’s no big thing? All signs point toward this being a real image. The picture was purportedly snapped in Alberta by Cecilia Wessels while her husband, Theunis, prioritized landscaping over hiding in a basement or bathtub.
Cecilia spoke with CTV News to explain how her husband “was keeping his eye on the tornado” while he mowed, and the storm was actually moving away from the couple’s home in Three Hills. She initially snapped the image to share with family, but of course, the Internet has picked up on Theunis’ hardcore devotion to his duties. People are arguing about whether this is a Photoshop-job, but Cecilia has provided Edmonton’s Sonic 102.9 radio station with photos from additional angles to prove her case.
The below video also shows the majestic storm ripping through Three Hills, so at least there’s solid proof that the tornado — which was witnessed by many people on Friday (miraculously, no one was injured by the storm) — was really as terrifying as Cecilia’s photos indicate. Still, this is the era in which Instagram and Snapchat users fool the world on a daily basis, so everything is subject to interpretation. You decide!
(Via Sonic 102.9 & CTV News)