MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — It has been over a month since an EF-3 tornado hit Maury County. Now, new help is on the way.
On Tuesday, June 18, President Joe Biden approved a Major Disaster Declaration for counties affected by the storm.
Nearly six weeks after May 8th's devastating EF-3 tornado, homeowners and repair crews are still trying to pick up the pieces.
"The whole area is never going to be the same," said Jessica Reaves, niece to Rob Bills, who lost his home in the tornado.
AT&T was seen trying to fix power lines still buried beneath trees, and people covered what was left of their homes in tarps and boards.
"I mean, right now I guess it's more of just the broken pieces, and like, how do you put it back together?" Reaves explained. "It does look better than it did."
A month ago, News 2 covered the Bills' family story following the tornado. At that time, debris was scattered around the yard, and items were still trying to be salvaged.
"Right now, we're just trying to get everything salvageable out of the house and just take it one day at a time," Rob Bills had said in a previous interview.
His niece Jessica said the house will have to be demolished, and most of the Bills' family furniture and memories have been destroyed.
"Initially, we were in an extended stay hotel, and then we were able to get into a rental house for now," Bills said. "And we are still working with my insurance and coverage for the house."
The Bills family will most likely have to start all over, but they still need the funds to do that.
"I think that's something a lot of people don't realize is there's only so much money given to help in these types of situations, and then you have to wait a month or so before other people can declare an actual disaster," Reaves said.
On Tuesday, FEMA announced Federal Disaster Assistance for states, local governments, and nonprofits impacted by the storm.
"Hopefully it helps more, and it helps more people get more of the money that they need," Reaves said.
"I had been waiting on that," Bills expressed. "I don't know exactly what that will look like either. I know there are things at my work that they can do once it has been declared a disaster, so I will definitely have to check in and see what that will look like."
There's still no decision on whether individual people will get help, but as more information comes out, the Bills family hopes a full recovery is in the near future.
"Just get everything cleaned up and the debris and everywhere would be nice," Rob said.
"There's still churches and things that are out there to help, and people have stepped up to say 'Hey, if you need anything, we have it,'" Reaves explained.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Bills and his family rebuild.