- The road to recovery following the Tallahassee tornadoes looks a lot longer for some neighbors
- Unique situations mean various communities will be without power, and unable to access their homes for months
- Watch the video to find out why their damage repair process will be so significant
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Neighbors in disbelief at the length of the road to recovery following tornado damage.
Neighbor, Christine Webster, said she can't believe this has happened to her.
We're finding out people across our communities are dealing with damage that will keep them out of their homes for a long time.
Recovery is a big haul for these neighbors.
"When you don't have it financially, and mentally it's overwhelming," said Webster.
That's following damage from the Tallahassee tornado.
"Yeah, my life is different," said Rachel Boatwright, on the other side of town.
Tornado damage is impacting neighbors physically across our communities.
Destruction is preventing some from living in their homes.
"It's still going to be up to 6 months before this place is livable again," said Boatwright.
The tornado ripped the meter box off the wall of Boatwright's multi-unit dwelling, leaving 9 houses, including hers, without power.
It will be that way for a while.
"Because of how the boxes were installed," said Boatwright, describing the issue, "because of backordered parts, because of shipping delays, we're dealing with as a result of other storms."
It's also affecting neighbors, like Webster, emotionally.
"Every time it rains or anything, I'm strictly already in defense mode," said Webster.
Storms following the May 10th tornado also caused Boatwright to have trauma response.
"Heard just the sound of regular thunderstorm wind, it provoked a physical reaction that I was not prepared to deal with and hadn't had before," said Boatwright.
Neighbors are pushing through.
"I don't know, we're just going to do it day by day I guess," said Webster.
However, they said their lives are altered forever
"In the future, I'm going to take a look at some of those alerts when they come through," said Boatwright.
Many organizations have been working on the ground since the tornadoes hit. Some include Samaritan's Purse, Fl Baptist Disaster Relief and Recovery Ministries, Second Harvest of the Big Bend, and the Red Cross.
