Damage from Greenback tornado mostly cleared six months later

wbir.com-"My father bought this house in 1951," Bob Anderson said while looking at an empty plot of land near the farm he grew up on in Greenback.

The home was destroyed after an EF3 tornado hit the town six months ago.

"It'll never be back to normal," he added. He also lost three barns from the disaster.

10News first met Anderson half a year ago when the tornado hit the community of Greenback. However, his property wasn't the only one damaged. 

On March 23, the tornado damaged and destroyed dozens of homes across Loudon and Blount Counties.

From windows to roofs, town officials said no one expected this storm to create such havoc.

"They learned that it could happen to anybody, you know?" said Greenback mayor Tom Peeler. "We never dreamed it would happen to Greenback, but they realized it could happen to anybody."

Now, you can hardly notice the tornado's impact. Windows are fixed, roofs are rebuilt, and lives are mostly back to normal with a new perspective on what happened.

"I saw the sign that said, 'Thank god for friends during a time of a disaster,' and I do think it still stands true today," said Vice Mayor Sam Jackson. "Greenback is as good or even better since this storm."

However, the storm's impact is still hard to handle for some victims like Bobby Anderson. He said while he'll never get over his loss, there is a silver lining. "...but no body got hurt," he said with a smile. 

Mayor Peeler said fewer than 10 houses were a complete loss from the tornado. Dozens of others have been rebuilt.