STUART, Fla. — Elena McLaughlin just started her Federal Emergency Management Agency application.
“I’m going to be doing two claims, because I’m going to do one for my dad and I’m going to do one for myself,” she said.
It's been nearly two weeks since a tornado hit Mariner Sands, leaving her home with roof damage and her father’s house with severe structural issues.
“Even with these accordion shutters up, these windows blew out,” said McLaughlin.
Her father's home has cracks on the ceiling, holes in the roof, and several columns that were up-rooted.
“We don’t know structurally if we can save it,” she said.
The tornado turned the home inside out.
“The branches came in through the windows. My dad usually sits right there at his computer, but yeah the windows blew out,” she said. “Things that were not even ours were blown into this room.”
As the debris piles up, so does the cost of putting the lives back together.
"Do you have any idea how much in damages some of this would cost?” WPTV reporter Cassandra Garcia asked McLaughlin.
“A lot," she responded. "I can't even begin to imagine—hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
She’s hoping FEMA will be able to help where insurance can’t.
"Hopefully we can get the house back to it’s original state, if we’re lucky," she added. “It’s going to take a long time.”
