ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — St. Lucie County local business icon, Al's Family Farms, took a huge hit from the disastrous tornado outbreak Wednesday afternoon along the Treasure Coast.
WPTV Reporter Jon Shainman went to the iconic local business to speak with owners Jeff and Matt Schorner as they process the devastation.
"I've never seen anything like this in my whole life," Jeff said. "I've been on this earth for 64 years— nothing. I don't even see this in a movie."
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Jeff and his son, Matt, left the building to go home around 20 minutes before the tornado hit. He was told of the potential damage by another business owner in the area.
Al's Family Farms has been left with catastrophic damage.
"If you're looking for a Ground Zero of where a tornado may have touched down, unfortunately, this might be it." Shainman said.
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Surrounding the building, all the decades-old trees have been knocked down.
In the midst of the overwhelming sight of destruction, Jeff is reminding himself to not rush to decide what's next.
"You have to wait, and process, you have to pray and be patient," Jeff said. "You can't get ahead of it, you just have to figure it out."
Matt, with his passion for farming and citrus, said he and his dad won't give up hope.
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"We're not quitters, we work our butts off, there's hard work, sweat and tears poured into this," Matt said. "We just don't know what we're going to do."
With produce packing season planned to start Oct. 20, Jeff foresees Al's Family Farms to still be able to sell produce to the community in the coming months.
"Somebody's got a dry roof we can get under, and we'll probably get these fruit gift baskets out just like any normal year because that's just how our industry works," Jeff said.
