Seattle family’s peaceful Southwest Florida Christmas shattered by EF1 tornado

A Seattle family that came to Southwest Florida in hopes of having a peaceful Christmas came face to face with a tornado instead.

The EF1 tornado terrorized a 1.3-mile swatch of south Fort Myers and found the Kruspe family’s Eagle Ridge home in its path, launching a projectile through a window and slamming two family members into a wall.

It’s not what the Kruspe family counted on when they arrived in south Fort Myers.

“We’re laying in bed and all of a sudden we heard like a train kind of a sound, like a roar,” said Bonnie Kruspe.

Bonnie lives in Southwest Florida but has never experienced anything like that.

Bonnie’s front yard was left a mess and her Christmas decorations were torn down.

Bianca Kruspe, visiting from Seattle, was in the room where the windows shattered.

“I just woke up from the window rattling and I’m like, oh my God, it’s a tornado coming by me because I thought the window was gonna break,” Bianca said.

Aaron Kruspe said he heard some pounding.

“Then all of a sudden, it was the house is kind of shaken. And then all of a sudden a whoosh came through and it just busted the window,” Aaron said.

Bonnie said the sheer force of the wind picked up her daughter-in-law and granddaughter and slammed them against the wall. The two went to the hospital to check themselves out.

“We didn’t know what to do,” Bonnie said. “The whole room was filled with debris and glass.”

Regardless, the family considers themselves blessed.

“We’re all standing here right now,” Aaron said.

“I’m glad nothing really bad happened,” Carson Kruspe added.