Contributed photos — Angie Torres and her 10-year-old daughter made it through the 2018 tornado despite having their roof blown off.

Two years ago a tornado decimated Angie Torres’ home on Byron Street, her family has recovered, but her old neighborhood still needs work.

On July 19, 2018 an EF-3 tornado swept through Marshalltown causing millions of dollars worth of damage, but luckily killing no one.

Torres was born and raised in Iowa. She moved to Marshalltown when she was 13 and has been here ever since.

When the tornado watch was declared Torres did not take the danger too seriously.

“I am an Iowa girl,” she said. “It looked like a beautiful day.”

The Torres’ house after the tornado tore off the roof.

Torres’ daughter was working at a day camp at the time and witnessed the tornado first-hand. She called Torres and advised her to take shelter immediately.

“So I decided to wake up my husband who works at night and we all went to the basement,” she said.

When the rain stopped her husband went upstairs to see what was going on.

“He flew downstairs, I don’t even think he hit the stairs with his feet,” Torres said. “He said ‘It’s in the backyard!'”

From there she felt the pressure created by the wind in her ears.

Once the tornado was gone and it felt like the coast was clear she went outside, thinking her house and family were fine but they found their roof missing.

“We had trees on all of our vehicles,” Torres said. “We had a virtual skylight. It took the entire top of our house off.”

From there, she and her family moved in with her mother until they were able to find a new house – 43 days later.

Fortunately for Torres, her insurance covered the damage and they were able to afford the cost of a new house.

“It was insane,” she said. “It was pretty scary.”

Torres and her family had just paid off her house.

“We lost a lot,” she said.

Community members from around Marshalltown rallied around Torres and others who lost their homes.

“Thank God we had insurance because it would’ve been a lot worse if we didn’t,” she said. “We purchased a new home. We absolutely love it, it’s our dream home.”

Torres wishes she could do more to help the northside of town.

“I think we were extremely lucky compared to a lot of families,” she said. “We always try to give back and help.”

Sue Cahill, Marshalltown City Council member, represents Ward 1 which took most of the damage from the tornado.

She’s worked with the council to get recovery started and improve the lives of people impacted by the tornado.

“I can name off 10 or 12 different projects that are in progress or that are completed,” Cahill said.

Several businesses around Main Street have received grants to help rebuild.

During the council’s June 13 meeting $350,000 of grants were given to businesses recovering from tornado damage.

“It is amazing the work that has been done when you look at the big picture,” Cahill said.

While businesses thrive, residential parts of Marshalltown remain in disrepair.

Many of the Torres’ former neighbors are still dealing with trying to recover from the damage.

“We have looked to invite and to have other residential projects take the place or supplement what has happened during the tornado,” Cahill said. “Yes, we still have some properties that have not been taken care of since the tornado.”

Some families did not have insurance, or are caught up in a lawsuit regarding who is responsible for repairs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not helped matters. The court system has been put on hold. The pandemic has hurt downtown businesses which were in the process of recovering from the tornado.

“We had some incredibly bad luck,” Cahill said. “We need to be sure to look out for our small businesses.”

Cahill says people have worked with Habitat for Humanity and other organizations to help those in need.

“We’re still trying to work with people,” she said.

Cahill remembers the first council meeting after the tornado hit. A prospective public art piece for the Public Safety Building was on the agenda and removed because they needed to focus on recovery.

“We were meeting in the library because city hall and the city council chamber were not deemed habitable at the time,” she said. “I remember that feeling of needing to focus on the most important thing that our community needs right now.”

Cahill is cautiously optimistic about the recovery two years later.

“I remember shortly after the tornado people telling me that it would take up to five years for our community to truly recover,” she said. “I remember thinking ‘No way that’s going to happen.’ Now I do believe that.”

While Torres has not been too mentally affected by the tornado, her children can be found sleeping in her room when storms roll in.

Storms leave them on “high alert,” Torres said. Even phone alerts can put them on edge.

“They’re OK,” she said.

Cahill still gets emotional about the tornado.

“I saw some pictures from a program that’s supposed to air,” she said. “I am still in awe that we escaped it with no one dying, minimal injuries, with heroes from our police force to camp counselors, to everyday people helping others around them. We have a lot of things to be thankful for because it could’ve been worse.”

While Torres’ family has fared well, the community still has a way to go.

“I feel like there’s still a great need,” she said. “I think it hit a lot of people very hard.”

Damaged homes are still a common sight while driving through parts of the north end of Marshalltown.

“You can see where people are still struggling,” Torres said. “I don’t like to see anybody struggle. I wish there could be more done.”

Torres spent a large portion of her life on the north end of town and wants to see more done to assist the families living there.

To a certain extent she feels survivor’s guilt about how well her family’s weathered the damage.

Torres would like to see more money used to help families that have been impacted.

“It’s nice to put a bandaid on something, but eventually it falls off,” she said. “We need more than a bandaid.”

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Contact Thomas Nelson at 641-753-6611 or tnelson@timesrepublican.com