Nearly a year after, there are still signs a deadly EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin.
"How were we not killed? I can't get past that," Laura Teverow said.
Laura Teverow and her husband Paul are one of dozens who continue to rebuild. The tornado tore the home they lived in for 30 years to pieces. They survived by taking shelter in the closet.
"It's kind of like the whole house corkscrewed down. My husband could get out, he got help and they pulled the wall off of me," Teverow said.
The couple snapped this I-PIX of their house after the storm.
"Just amazing to look around and see six to eight feet high stack of shattered wood, shingles and debris and to know that we are ok," Teverow said.
As many communities continue to pick up the pieces in Joplin, Habitat for Humanity is also working to build homes for those who lost everything a year ago.
"Ready to get the neighborhood done, basically ready to get Joplin built back up to what it was," Stephen Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez is part of the Habitat for Humanity crew building homes, including his own. He remembers how a year ago he drove straight into the tornado.
“You couldn`t see the tornado because it was rain wrapped. All I could see was black wind in the car. I was just waiting to be picked up and to be sucked,” Gutierrez said.
He added, he’s lucky to be alive.
"I just thank God for letting me live another day, let me still be here for my kids," Gutierrez said.
Hundreds of volunteers from near and far keep helping the city.
"So many people come and lend a hand and show their love and it's appreciated," Gutierrez said.
As for the Teverows, they say their house is better equipped if a tornado strikes again.
"I love it. They bolted it to the concrete and it's guaranteed immovable," Teverow said.
The Joplin tornado is ranked the 7th deadliest in U.S history and had a track lasting six miles.