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Alberta man who mowed lawn with tornado behind him was ‘keeping an eye on it’

Click to play video: '‘He’s allegedly Chuck Norris’ brother’: Three Hill’s tornado mower gains worldwide fame'
‘He’s allegedly Chuck Norris’ brother’: Three Hill’s tornado mower gains worldwide fame
WATCH ABOVE: A man who was captured mowing his lawn in the midst of an Alberta tornado is receiving worldwide recognition. David Boushy reports – Jun 5, 2017

A photo of a man in Alberta mowing a lawn with a tornado swirling behind him has been causing a bit of a storm on social media.

Cecilia Wessels snapped the picture of her husband, Theunis, on Friday evening as the twister passed near their home in Three Hills.

She posted it to Facebook and the post was shared nearly 300 times by Sunday afternoon.

She says cutting the grass was on her husband’s to-do list, and as he started the task, she went for a nap.

Wessels says she was woken by her nine-year-old daughter who was upset that there was something like a tornado in the sky, but her father wouldn’t come inside.

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WATCH: A photo of a man in Alberta mowing a lawn with a tornado swirling behind him has been causing a bit of a storm on social media.
Click to play video: 'Alberta man mows lawn with tornado behind him'
Alberta man mows lawn with tornado behind him

Theunis Wessels says the tornado was actually much further away than it appears in the photo, and that it was moving away from them.

There have been no reports of injuries from the tornado, although some other photos show downed trees and a barn with its roof ripped off.

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“I literally took the picture to show my mum and dad in South Africa, ‘Look there’s a tornado,’ and now everyone is like, ‘Why is your husband mowing the lawn?'” Cecilia Wessels said Saturday.

“Our whole street, everyone was on their back patios taking pictures,” she added.

Theunis Wessels said he was keeping watch of his surroundings and saw the twister form as the swirling connected from the sky and the ground to form the funnel.

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Both said tornadoes are not common in South Africa, but Theunis said he had attended a seminar by tornado storm chaser Greg Johnson in Saskatchewan, so he’s familiar with them.

Watch below: A Global News viewer spotted a funnel cloud near Three Hills, Alta. on Friday evening.

Click to play video: 'Viewer Video: Tornado seen near Three Hills, Alberta'
Viewer Video: Tornado seen near Three Hills, Alberta

The tornado moved away to the east, he said.

“It looks much closer if you look in the photo, but it was really far away. Well, not really far, far away, but it was far away from us,” he said.

“I was keeping an eye on it.”

Watch below: Social media was spinning with wild scenes of the twister captured on so many cell phones. People who snapped the viral videos and pictures say it was a scary few minutes. Jenna Freeman reports.

Click to play video: 'Three Hills tornado viral videos'
Three Hills tornado viral videos

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