Three months later: Elon community still working to rebuild

Amherst County School giving out school supplies to students who need them

ELON, Va. – Families in the Elon area are still Elon Strong three months after a tornado ripped their communities apart. The homeowners continue to buy supplies for their new homes, but may have to temporarily shift their focus because school is around the corner. 

The Childress family built their two-story home nine years ago. On the evening of April 15, everything changed when an EF3 tornado ripped through the Elon area and the family’s belongings were destroyed and scattered all over their front lawn. 

Now, three months later, homeowner David Childress said, "We had to re-excavate because we didn't want to build it back in the same spot. So a lot has to go into thinking about the house you're going to put back there; is it going to be the exact same thing or did you want to do something different?” 

Childress and his family are making progress on their new home. 

"I'm doing a lot of the work myself, trying to save on it. Even though we have good insurance, it's not covering the full cost. So I'm doing backfilling and excavating. And I'll be doing electrical and stuff in the house,” Childress said.

While he's still making frequent trips to the hardware store his wife, a school teacher, is taking care of the other needs-- school supplies.

"My wife has gone out to buy some new school clothes for the kids, because you know we lost a lot of our clothes and stuff and so she's trying to get our kids some new clothes for school,” Childress said.

While Childress' teens get ready for high school and college in a few weeks. Amherst county Public Schools is taking the load off the shoulders of other parents. They have backpacks full of school supplies at area schools. 

Amherst County School officials said they have a handful of supplies for students who may need them at Amherst County High School, Monelison Middle School and Elon Elementary School.