Pastor caught in tornado while fishing credits God with his survival

WINNIE, Texas (CNN) - A Texas pastor says it’s a true miracle that he’s alive after he and a friend were caught in a tornado while out fishing.

Brian Johnson, his dog Sam and a friend were out fishing Saturday in Winnie, some 60 miles east of Houston. The bass were biting because a storm was on its way.

What Johnson and his friend didn’t realize was that they were about to get caught in the middle of an EF-3 tornado.

When the twister hit, Johnson’s boat flipped into the water. He had to hang on because his pants were stuck on something, and his legs were trapped underneath.

“I’m holding onto the boat… ‘cause the wind is just ripping,” Johnson told KTRK. “And I’m like, ‘It’s gonna pick me up out of this water any second.’”

As the storm moved through, Johnson freed himself then located his friend, who found an air pocket under the boat. Other people soon came to help and flip the boat back over.

Both fishermen and the dog made it to safety.

Johnson, who is a pastor, told his congregants Sunday that God spared him for a purpose.

“I shouldn’t be here telling you this story. I made a terrible decision. All the warnings were there, and I didn’t heed them. Yet somehow God spared me. So, I got to believe he spared me for a purpose,” Johnson told CNN.

The National Weather Service confirmed this was an EF-3 tornado with peak winds of 138 miles per hour, according to KTRK.