IOWA, USA — Severe weather tore through Iowa yesterday and, while most sought shelter and paused their plans, one Iowan was stuck on Lake Red Rock in the height of the storms.
Tim Hanes called Local 5 to share what brought him to the lake in the middle of a tornado warning.
"I was going to keep going mushroom hunting, because it was like the last day probably, you know, and [my friend] kept telling me, 'Oh, mushrooms aren't worth risking your life,'" he said.
Despite the warning, Hanes started up the boat because it still looked nice out. But that good weather didn't last long.
"All of a sudden, the wind and the rain just started pelting me ... And then the hail started go on, and I'm hiding behind trees, and then I'm hearing tornado sirens coming from Pella," he said.
After an hour and a half of seeking shelter under a tree, Hanes realized flash flooding was heading his direction. When he tried to get back on the lake, his boat had around an inch of water building up in it.
He quickly pumped it and steered his way to shore.
"I thought I was going to have to crawl back to the truck. I was just so spent and I didn't think I was going to make it back home alive," he said.
Hanes' mushroom hunt didn't pan out like planned because of the rapidly changing weather.
"I was crazy," he said. "And I only found two mushrooms. I did all that for two mushrooms."
Hanes said this experience taught him a valuable lesson — one he wants to share with viewers at home.
"All I gotta say is make sure you watch the weather before you go out in the boat. Because it get can scary really quick," he said.
Hanes told Local 5 he's grateful to be alive to tell the tale.
He also said he plans on gifting the mushrooms to his mom this Mother's Day.