Wilkinson, Michigan (WILX) – An EF-2 tornado tore through Williamston about a year ago. Billboards were fallen, houses and trees were uprooted by the twister. Even while there are still remnants of the devastation, most people are starting to notice indications of reconstruction—aside from one family, who claims it hasn’t happened quickly enough.
One of the few families in the line of the August 26, 2023, tornado’s devastation was a family in Williamston. The Dietz farm, a few miles from their house, is where things are finally beginning to come together and return to normal.
“The journey to this point has been somewhat lengthy. After several months, we have a basement. The progress is really pleasing to the eye, as fifth generation farmer Stephanie Dietz put it.
However, one of her neighbors is unable to make the same claim. They wish to tell their tale but choose to remain anonymous for fear of being targeted by their contractors or insurance company.
The veteran and Williamston resident added, “You cry out to everyone you can to try and get somebody to get going on this stuff and you end up like this.”
After a year, the family is still unable to return to their own house; they are forced to live in a rental with five dogs, have several more months of construction yet to go, and their insurance funds are running low.
“It’s been awful.” We have used up all of our savings; we are down to absolutely nothing. We thought we had a terrific policy, but “replacement costs”—oh no—we really should review it. The homeowner remarked, “I wanted to retire this year, but I’m not able to.”
Tim Dietz stated, “What we had, I think insured for, was probably closer to $150 dollars a square foot, and the actual cost is going to come in over $250 dollars a square foot,” in a comparable insurance scenario.
Even though the neighborhood has helped the Dietz family by giving trees and volunteering their time to clean up, many others, including their neighbors, continue to fall in the gaps and are left to pick up the pieces on their own.
“Oh my gosh, you don’t want it to ever happen, and you wonder how those folks deal with it when you see other people going through it on the news. Sadly, this is how you handle things a year later,” the homeowner remarked.
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