Bennington tornado survivor discusses recovery efforts three months later

KMTV first connected with Doug Kibbe the night of the April 26 tornadoes as we were in his neighborhood covering the damage. In the span of a few hours on that day, there were smashed cars, shattered windows, a damaged garage, and roof damage at Kibbe's Bennington home. All the damage was caused by the tornadoes.

"This was something one doesn't experience too often in life. Something big like this, necessarily," said Kibbe. "It was upsetting. Maybe you don't outright realize it, or admit it openly, but it certainly was."

Three months later, he said it's been a roller coaster of emotions, especially when it comes to the financial side for repairing the damage. He said he's looking at over $300,000 worth of damage so far.

"It's really surprising. We haven't dealt with any major issues. We replaced the roof once about 12 years ago after a major hail storm. The price of replacing this roof has doubled since then," he said.

And some positive news for Kibbe, Monday, he was able to get part of his garage door fixed.

"It's like Christmas coming in July," he said. "It's been three months of moving these 4 by 8 sheets of plywood as my makeshift garage doors."

Kibbe said there's still a lot more rebuilding to go from here. He's still waiting on permits to fix his windows and roof, to name a few. Kibbe's permit requests go through the city of Omaha because of his proximity to city limits. The city of Omaha tells me that just over 750 tornado recovery permits have been issued thus far.

He said trying to stay positive gets him through each day.

"When I think about this in the big picture, we're in really good shape," said Kibbe. "We have nothing to complain about. Our house is perfectly livable. Insurance is going to cover the costs of repairs. Things are going to get fixed. I'm thankful about everything."

He said without the community's help, he wouldn't be where he is today. He hopes to have his home fully repaired in the next six to eight months.

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