A long recovery: Tempe mother forced to relocate after microburst damage
Microburst aftermath lingers for Tempe mother
A month after a powerful microburst tore through the city of Tempe, residents are still grappling with the aftermath. More than a thousand businesses and homes were destroyed in the storm. FOX 10's Kenzie Beach hears from a mother who remains in limbo.
TEMPE, Ariz. - A month after a powerful microburst tore through the city of Tempe, residents are still grappling with the aftermath.
More than a thousand businesses and homes were destroyed in the storm.
Microburst victims seek aid at new Tempe assistance center
The city of Tempe opened a Disaster Assistance Center to help hundreds of residents impacted by the Oct. 13 microburst, offering access to a dozen organizations that provide aid ranging from food and shelter to utility assistance and construction help.
What we know:
Sentry Tempe Apartments have been an active construction zone for the last month. Crews say five buildings have been condemned, leaving dozens of residents displaced.
"It feels like it's been longer because I work from home," resident Desiree Blackburn said. "So, if I don't have a home, I'm not able to work."
Blackburn, a single mother, is being forced to pack up and move out of her unit. Just outside her window, crews continue to work on the damage. She recalled weathering the initial storm without power, water or gas.
Desiree Blackburn
"I just heard two loud 'boom, boom, boom,' the lights flicker. And then they went out," she recalled of the microburst on Oct. 13. The storm sent massive uprooted trees crashing into living rooms.
Blackburn stayed for a week after the storm, trying to work from home without services until her building was deemed unlivable.
"We were being emergency evacuated. Everybody in my building, we had to go, which is a shock because I'm like, ‘How? I need time,’" Blackburn said.
Tempe sawmill repurposing downed trees from microburst
A local sawmill in Tempe is giving new life to hundreds of trees uprooted by last week's severe microburst.
Dig deeper:
A month later, she says aid from the Red Cross has run out.
"So I have my room until tomorrow, and I'm in east Mesa at a hotel," Blackburn said. "And then after that, I have to figure out what to do again, because it's going to be another week that I don't have a home and that I haven't had pay."
She is relying on her faith as she and her daughter attempt to start over.
"A safe home for me and my daughter so I can resume working and then hopefully go back to school. I had to drop my courses this term because of not having housing or anywhere for my daughter to go," Blackburn said.
What's next:
The state of Arizona brought in the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration to review the damage for potential federal individual assistance. Officials say it can take months before funds are available.
What you can do:
Click here for more information on recovery resources from the city of Tempe.