- Southeast neighbors remain positive one month into tornado recovery.
- Southeast Tallahassee was hit by the strongest winds during the May 10th tornadoes.
- Watch the video to hear why neighbors and businesses credit unity for their recovery thus far.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Jeffrey Minder, Founder and CEO of Top Tier K9 - "You never quit, you never give up, you always push forward, you always have a great attitude."
I'm Kenya Cardonne. your Southeast Tallahassee neighborhood reporter.
I'm on the road where neighbors and businesses are moving forward after last month's severe weather.
Rick Lurding, Neighbor - "Yeah, a month has gone by and we're still at it."
Indianhead neighbor Rick Lurding tells me he and his community are still in the thick of it, pushing to recover from devastating tornadoes that hit the community one month ago.
Gregory Mauldin, Neighbor - "It's hard to believe, yeah.."
Manuel Villegas, Neighbor - "No lo creo, anoche yo estaba conversando con mi esposa y, hace un mes que esto paso.. parece que fue dos días!"
Manuel Villegas says he tells his wife he can't believe it's been a month already, when it really feels like it's only been two days.
He and his wife are still in a powerless home due to the extensive damage.
Down the street, the tornado took several trees to Lurding's house.
And over at Top Tier K9, big trees and debris hit their training grounds.
Villegas - "Si es difícil, pero se vive, se vive." (Translation: "It is difficult, but you live. You live!")
Despite the tragedy, neighbors across the Southeast tell me they choose to see their story as the very opposite.
Lurding - "Most of us realize this was a war zone but nobody was shooting at us, that's quite a good thing."
Villegas - "Yo pienso que por lo menos esta comunidad es excelente. Los vecinos son.. mejores: imposible."
Villegas credits his family and neighbors for the progress, saying his community is excellent and it would be impossible to find better neighbors.
I asked CEO of Top Tier K9, Jeffrey Minder, about how his team came together to keep the business up and running for the community.
Minder - "I'll cry.."
As people work at getting back to some sort of normalcy, it's clear the sense of community and widespread positivity — trumps May 10th tragedy.
Minder - "You have to surround yourself with people who are even better than you are, right, so they can rise to the occasion and they can satisfy their needs and also help support the company in coming back from the devastation like this tornado created for the city."
If you live in the Southeast and are still dealing with tornado devastation, I would love to hear from you.
You can reach out to me using the contact information below:
Phone: 850-901-5413
Email: kenya.cardonne@wtxl.tv
In Southeast Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne, ABC 27
