It’s been one month since tornadoes ripped through parts of southeastern Florida, and some of the areas hardest hit are still recovering.
“At this moment today I think it’s a dream,” said resident Eduardo Toursarkissian. “A bad dream.”
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NBC6 first spoke to Toursarkissian after Hurricane Milton and the 16 tornadoes hit St. Lucie County on Oct. 9.
It’s when he rescued two women from a submerged car, and lost his friend, one of the six who died in the Spanish Lakes community.
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“I’m sorry, it’s bad,” Eduardo said with tears in his eyes. “My neighbor, she was like 'what’s going on?' and I told her 'don’t go, it looks like devastation, a war.'"
All that remains from Eduardo’s friend’s house is his wheelchair.
Other homes are still left in disarray. As you drive through different neighborhoods you see walls gone and trash littered.
And it’s not just homes that were destroyed but businesses.
One gas station and convenience store were left in complete disarray. The roof was upended, the interior was destroyed, and the gas station port was blown off. The store was forced to shutter its doors.
But there have been signs of hope.
“It hasn’t been bad, Frontline Insurance, who I have been working with, has been very well. They have already sent the check to expedite and get things going,” explained another resident, Derek.
Derek has slowly done repairs to his roof, windows, garage and terraced pool.
While it’s difficult seeing his beloved street, not as it once was, he says it’s brought neighbors together.
“A lot of neighbors who you wave high and bye to, everyone has seemed to come together, outside neighbors came in bringing food and water and things like that so it has galvanized the community," he said.
Jorge Arana agrees.
“We help each other, we help the owners, the neighbors, whatever people need in here. That’s what we do here to help each other," he said.
Arana has lived in his neighborhood for 18 years. His roof, windows, and garage were left destroyed, and he lost two cars. But he’s already made progress.
James Bracco has been part of the neighborhoods progress. He’s been tarping roofs since day one.
“I personally did about 35 myself for the past four years, that’s about 2 or 3 a day," he said.
As the streets have slowly started to clear, Arana has hope that soon his neighborhood will no longer have to pick up.
“Everything is moving slowly but we are trying to put everything together," Arana said.
