{"id":336,"date":"2018-07-10T20:28:31","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T20:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/still-on-the-edge\/?p=336"},"modified":"2018-11-26T17:37:50","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T17:37:50","slug":"after-surviving-back-to-back-disasters-theyre-finally-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/still-on-the-edge\/2018\/07\/10\/after-surviving-back-to-back-disasters-theyre-finally-home\/","title":{"rendered":"After Surviving Back-To-Back Disasters, They’re ‘Finally Home’"},"content":{"rendered":"

When tornadoes ripped through North Texas the day after Christmas in 2015, people lost jobs, treasures, homes \u2014 even loved ones. First, the storm damaged Lindsay’s Diaz’s house in Rowlett. Then, a demolition company tore it down by mistake.\u00a0It has taken a long time for those financial scars to heal, but she finally feels at home again.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/p>\n

Lindsay Diaz and her 3-year-old son, Arian, play in the kitchen in their new home in Rowlett, Texas. Photo: Allison V. Smith<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As 3-year-old Arian and his mom Lindsay Diaz patiently roll Play-Doh\u00a0into snakes\u00a0on the island in their new kitchen, a rumble can be heard just outside their front door.<\/p>\n

Crews are taking down\u00a0a\u00a0tornado-damaged house across the way \u2014 two-and-a-half years after the storm that destroyed it\u00a0tore through\u00a0Rowlett.<\/p>\n

“My fianc\u00e9, he told my son, ‘Look, there’s Rubble’s truck from Paw Patrol.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And I looked out and there was the truck \u2014 excavator \u2014 picking up all of the concrete. And I was like, ‘Wow.'”<\/p>\n

When the storm hit Christmas weekend in\u00a02015,\u00a0Diaz\u00a0and her fianc\u00e9 jumped in the bathtub, shielding baby\u00a0Arian. His room took the brunt of it.<\/p>\n

“His room was right along the front wall, and the front wall just was completely caved in, and the bricks were all inside his crib and just all over the place,” she said. “A lot of the baby stuff that I had purchased for him and even some things that my mom passed down to me from when I was a baby, was in that room — and it was completely destroyed.”<\/p>\n

\n
Slideshow: Diaz’s home after the tornado<\/h6>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
    \n
  • \"\"\n
    \n
    In February 2016, Lindsay Diaz and then 7-month-old Arian stand in the living room of their Rowlett, Texas, duplex that was seriously damaged by tornadoes in December 2015. Photo: Lara Solt<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \"\"\n
    \n
    This isn't hail \u2014 it's broken glass outside Diaz's home after the storm on Dec. 26, 2015. Photo: Lara Solt<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \"\"\n
    \n
    In February 2016, Lindsay Diaz and her son visit the bathroom of their home where they hunkered down in the bathtub for safety. Photo: Lara Solt<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \"\"\n
    \n
    One side of Lindsay Diaz's tornado-damaged house in Rowlett, Texas, in February 2016. Photo: Lara Solt<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \"\"\n
    \n
    In February 2016, Michael Judd of C.M. Landers Construction and Demolition cleans up what is left of a house near the home of Lindsay Diaz after the December 2015 tornadoes. Photo: Lara Solt<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n