Joe Elias was home Wednesday when a tornado blew through Logan County near Elkhart. He was working out in the shed with his friend Mark Hinds.

"We couldn't make it out," Joe Elias told News 25. "It was that quick. There were no train noises like everybody says. It didn't even sound like there was a car coming, just wind."

Joe's friend, Mark Hinds, will never forget what they experienced next.

"I looked out the window and I could see what looked like rotation to me," Hinds recalled. "By that time it had sucked the door out of my hand and it blew the garage door over the top of the truck and we just dove for the floor. That was pretty much the end of it."

Both men are lucky to be alive. But the Elias's home was demolished. Joe's wife, Kelly, had just finished remodeling her kitchen.

"We're going to get a new one," said Kelly, holding back tears. It's a house. It's a house. My kids weren't there and everybody that was here is OK."

The shed where Joe and Mark were is wrecked. All that's left is the concrete floor. Debris from the house is scattered throughout the neighboring cornfield. The dishwasher lays about 100 yards away.

More than 40 friends of the Elias family helped them salvage their belongings Thursday morning and clean up the devastation. Jessica Hanner was one of the people sifting through the wreckage for valuables.

"We've got a nice small farming community around here," said Hanner. "Any time anybody needs anything we're here to help and this situation is no different."

Kelly Elias was overwhelmed by the outpouring of help from her friends and neighbors.

"I sit here and I look and I have no idea how I'm going to pay all of these people back. The generosity of people is incredible."

Parts of the Elias's house had stood for roughly 100 years. But it took Mother Nature only a few seconds to demolish it.