As tornado twists nearby, one guy has a more pressing task at hand than simply taking cover

When a tornado touched down last Friday in Three Hills, Alberta, one guy wasn't about to take cover: He was in the middle of a to-do list, after all.

So as Theunis Wessels began mowing his lawn, his wife Cecilia turned in for a nap, the Canadian Press reported.

But soon she was awakened by her upset 9-year-old daughter saying there was something like a tornado in the sky — and Dad won't come inside, the Press said.

When Cecilia Wessels had a look for herself, she took a photo of her husband behind the lawnmower — and the ominous twister behind him, the paper said.

"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 told the Press on Saturday.

The photo is going viral.

Theunis Wessels said the tornado was further away from their house than what the photo might indicate — and that it was moving away from them, the paper reported.

"Our whole street, everyone was on their back patios taking pictures," Cecilia Wessels told the Press.

There have been no reports of injuries from the tornado, the paper said, although other photos show downed trees and a barn without its roof.

Both said tornadoes are not common in South Africa, but Theunis Wessels told the Press that he watched a TV program about storm chasers, so he's familiar with them.

The death-defying fella told the paper: "I was keeping an eye on it."