By By Matthew Nascone
Two years ago Hurricane Ivan ripped through Atmore and left a path of damage and destruction, but for one family there was a ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds the day after Ivan.
Mitch McKinley walked outside and saw the tree branch sticking through the roof of his house and was in shock because of the amount of damage the hurricane had dealt to the city. However, he said saw something fluttering about in a mud puddle.
"I looked down in a pool of water and I noticed a little Brim swimming around," McKinley, an Atmore resident, said. "I didn't think much of it because of the destruction all around me, but the more I thought about it I wondered how this fish had survived."
McKinley took the fish into his home and put him in a bowl of water that he switched out every so often because his home had no power to fuel his fish tank.
"And I also wondered what a story this little fish would have if he could talk," McKinley said.
The Brim was about one and one half inches long when McKinley found him and he is now about seven inches in length. This Brim was named Ivan because of the bond made between his owner and him, McKinley said.
McKinley's daughter, Tasha Emmons, also witnessed the fish in the puddle.
"It was weird to see a Brim floating in the puddle because it came from out of nowhere," Emmons said.
Where the fish came from is a mystery to whoever knows of how Ivan came to McKinley. With no creeks or any other bodies of water close to the area the fish had to travel a long way to end up in McKinley's yard. But that surprise two years ago was a welcome surprise for him.
"He is the best pet I have ever had because we have grown attached to one another through the storms," McKinley said. "Now every time a big storm comes, I think of what Ivan went through to get here.