Final Tornado Update. **Warning! Lots of pics!**

[Quakindude]

First off, I want to say THANK YOU once again to my family here at HardwareLogic. It has been one hell of a stressful 9 months. I've been so friggin busy getting our home back together I've been everything from very understanding to a complete dick at times. Continued health issues haven't made things any better. For my impatience and unreliability at times, I apologize. Now though, we are moving beyond the stress and getting very comfortable in our new home.

For those of you who don't know, my family and I were hit by a killer F4 tornado on March 1, 2007. You can read more about it here.

I know I haven't said Thank You to everyone who helped, donated, wished us well, said prayers for us and so on. I offer my deepest apologies if I didn't recognize someone or some entity. I will say, however, that I remain totally humbled and amazed at the out pouring of hope, strength and support everyone gave to my family and I. Words just cannot express the feelings I have, especially after reading through that whole Tornado thread again today.

Any way, on to some pictures. I'm going to do some comparison views.


























And finally, the computer area I designed and had built. In retrospect, I should have done a couple things differently. Luckily though, the way it is set up, I can easily make the changes that every day use dictates.



Today is a special day for a few reasons. One, the pool is finally done. Everything has been completed. Two, all the work is done and the bills are all paid.

Most importantly though, through out this whole ordeal I've personally gained more than I ever though possible from a tragic event that took 8 lives and did millions in damages through out our small city.

Friendships. Some of them renewed, some of them solidified and some completely new. Without a doubt, this has defined that famous quote: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Except in my case, it's the Tale of one City and an Internet full of caring and help.

Soldiers Angels, our local Vietnam Veterans association, the VFW, FEMA, Red Cross, SBA, local government, Churches and to all the companies that donated equipment and money all deserve a huge thank you as well. If I left anyone out, I'm sorry. The last nine months are a blur.

So to my friends here at HardwareLogic, I wish to say two words that we in the military long to hear after any tough assignment.

Mission complete.

Without your help and support, it surely would have been a much tougher experience.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Tom & Family.

P.S.

Please forgive me. I'll be copying and pasting this to other forums, but with some minor changes.

[screwballl]

good to see life is back in order, if the wife wasn't pregnant we would have come up and helped several times on weekends and I regret that I was not able to do it even myself.
The house looks great and it looks like the rest of the neighborhood is doing pretty good too. We are here anytime someone needs us and even though i hate to say it, I don't think it could have happened to a better family. Some just take and run, some just take and no thanks but your appreciation proves a lot about who you are despite what you went through.

[XoRn]

Man you got a beautiful house. I'm glad HL was able to help you guys rebuild it! Thank you HL!

[Reloadron]

First you did a tremendous job of dealing with everything. You showed some magnificent strength through all of this.

Next, you are welcome and I am pleased Kathy and I could help you guys out.

Next, Next the pool looks very inviting so you can expect us this summer for a pool party!

Overall on a serious note thank God you and yours made it through that damn thing. Don't look back, only forward! The before and after tell the story so thanks for sharing the pictures.

Ron

[Yellowhello]

Awesome job getting everything sorted out, looks like a lot of work. I'm very glad you guys made it through that ordeal alright.

Cheers,
Nate

[gvblake22]

Lookin' good man! Glad things are finally coming back together and "normal" life can resume. Did your insurance company ever stop jerking you around and give you the compensation you needed?

[Hitman]

Thats a pretty amazing recovery time. It's been about what 8 months? There are people that got hit by Katrina that are still trying to get their houses back together 2+ years later. Well look at it this way, you got your home remodeled out of the deal.

[screwballl]

Wasn't there a bit about the garage being shifted? how did they resolve that??

[Quakindude]

Thanks for the comments guys. You can be sure that anything that resulted in beauty had my wife's steady hand behind it.

We're just very happy this is now behind us!

Originally Posted by gvblake22

Did your insurance company ever stop jerking you around and give you the compensation you needed?

Not really. It was a struggle from day 2 until the end. We actually have a little bit of paperwork left to do for things that have blown up since then. PSU's, dishwasher, my cable modem, things of that nature. Plus things we've noticed missing since filing the first "Contents" claim. As soon as we're done with the final settlement, we'll be flicking USAA like a nasty booger.

Originally Posted by Hitman

Thats a pretty amazing recovery time. It's been about what 8 months? There are people that got hit by Katrina that are still trying to get their houses back together 2+ years later. Well look at it this way, you got your home remodeled out of the deal.

You're right Joe. And we do realize that. We are very aware that if this had to happen, a lot of good came of it.

Originally Posted by screwballl

Wasn't there a bit about the garage being shifted? how did they resolve that??

When the construction workers tore all the sheet rock and siding off the house, just the framing was left. At that point, they replaced 3 walls, one at a time. They used shoring jacks to jack up the roof structure to replace the walls underneath. Then re-shot all the sill plate bolts through the new sill plates.

[Redleg]

Still think you and your wife have good taste in coffee tables. Glad 99.99% of all that crap is behind ya bro! Like ya said, once all the paperwork is done, find ya a better Ins Co. They wouldn't even think twice of covering homes here in Florida anymore, and I'm glad we didn't sign up with them now, knowing what you went thru with them. They have my truck, but that's only cause no one can touch their price here.

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