Murfreesboro Tornado Victims Start Over - Erika Kurre

Almost seven months since an EF-4 tornado blew through Murfreesboro, neighborhoods and businesses are still rebuilding.

But one family who lost nearly everything is starting over in a brand new house.

The White family is moving in this weekend-- a relief after months of no where to call home.

Sharon White gives the tour of her brand new home.

Vaulted ceilings and new furniture are just a couple of things she had been wanting.

Sharon says, "A lot of things we wanted before we couldn't get, we have now. So that was good."

But the road here hasn't been easy.

Their original home on this property was destroyed by the tornado with her husband and son inside.

Sharon's son Tyler White says, "You don't really know what's going on until the house is gone."

Sharon says, "It got demolished. There were trees everywhere and all the windows were blown."

No one in the family was hurt.

But this all happened while Sharon and her husband were out of work.

They lost their jobs in this tough economy.

Sharon says, "It was very stressful. It was scary."

The family of six has been living in a rental home.

They've had to start from scratch, with new kitchen appliances and even accessories.

Barely anything was salvageable from their first home.

Sharon's mother Geraldine Hanvy says, "Her house that was hit, it was just down to the ground."

Looking back on the family's hardships, Sharon's mother says there's reason to smile:

Hanvy says, "We've all been blessed that no one was hurt and that she has such a beautiful home now."

But it's not just the home that has this family smiling.

Sharon says, "The generosity that was shown to us and the kindness and everyone just coming and chipping in that I never would have thought was possible."

School organizations hosted fundraisers and businesses donated household products.

All this to help make a new house their home.

Tyler says, "It's a relief. It's a lot better than living in a rental house. It's exciting.

Hanvy says, "It's unreal, it's just something you could never dream about having. And they certainly deserve it."

Sharon is also back to work now.

Their house was rebuilt with the help of homeowner's insurance.

The White's expect to be completely moved in in as early as a week.Murfreesboro Tornado Victims Start Over - Erika Kurre

Posted: Sunday, November 1 2009, 08:31 PM CST