SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. — A woman is fighting to keep her childhood home one month after a tornado ripped through her community.
Deborah Chaney grew up in the 100-year-old house on Elm Street in Spalding County. Devastating tornadoes last month hit the area, leaving tree limbs and debris scattered on the ground for the last few weeks.
“Words can’t express what this house means to me," Chaney said. “I grew up in it. I ran up and down these streets, I played.”
Some roads are still hard to navigate, and tarps and boarded up windows are littered all over town. Chaney said her car was totaled but said she relied on her faith to come through the storms with minimal damage to her home. Others were not so fortunate. Spalding County officials estimated tornado damage spanned two miles and hit nearly 1,500 buildings.
“Everything was scattered everywhere. My porch top was sitting right here on my porch," Chaney said. "I couldn’t even come out my front door. God had His hands on us, because when that tornado started coming, I made them all get in the hall. They were all crunched down around my legs. I threw both hands up in the air, and I started praying. God put a hedge of protection around my home.”
Chaney's daughter, Jaime Hall, tried to get financial help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. However, after an inspection, Hall said FEMA deemed the home still livable and denied assistance.
"The tree that fell hit the corner of her car, which totaled her car out," Hall said. "We’re still looking to try and find her another vehicle now. The tree limbs hit the roof of the house, which damaged the integrity of it, and now she’s got small leaks. There’s a stick in it, and of course it dropped the front porch down.”
FEMA spokesperson Nate Custer said homes deemed unlivable include the following:
- Critical utilities, such as furnace and water heater, not working
- Mold in drywall, carpets and cabinets
- Large, uncovered holes in roof or roof destroyed
- Exterior door destroyed
- Downed trees blocking entranceway or leaning against roof
Custer said FEMA has registered 6,000 people in areas where there was tornado damage and has already doled out $2 million worth of aid in Spalding County alone, giving help on a case-by-case basis.
"Teams are looking at the type of damage the home sustained, be it damage to the roof, walls, utility system, HVAC system, whether the home is difficult to access, whether there’s obstacles or debris in the way," Custer said. "We’re not in the business of making everybody whole again. We are getting people on the road to recovery. Some of the damage is going to be relatively minor, and we hope to be able to make a home what we call safe, secure and functional."
Custer urged victims impacted by the storm to visit a FEMA disaster recovery center. There are seven such centers in Georgia, where people can ask questions and register to receive assistance. Custer said some people sometimes fail to get help because they do not have the required documents to expedite the process.
Meantime, Chaney is uninsured and lives on social security while continuing to raise grandchildren in her home. A local business gave her $5,000.
"We just take it day-by-day. Every time she asks a question and I don’t know it, I try and find it, looking for all resources I possibly can to try and help her because she deserves it," Hall said. "My mom is a breast cancer survivor, she’s a triple bypass recipient, she’s 70 years old on social security. She’s got to be the strongest woman I know."
And while Hall said she believes her mother needs about $15,000 to make full repairs to her home, she said every bit of money helps Chaney's childhood home stay intact.
"You’ve got a lot in your house you have to feed, clothe, you have to send to school. You wonder where it’s all coming from to fix your house," Chaney said. "When you go through something like this, it’s devastating when you stand back and see your house completely gone. But it hurts deeply when you see that your house has been damaged, but you can actually still go back in it, but don’t know how to fix it.”
Anyone interested in helping Chaney can click here.