WSET.com - ABC13People React Differently to Tornado Aftermath

Reporter: Rachel Schaerr l Videographer: Steven Smith

Halifax Co., VA - There are no rules for how to respond to a tragedy. For so many in the Nathalie area, their lives are now completely different than they were just a day ago. On Liberty Road, the worst hit, a lot of this is still sinking in. Residents had all sorts of anger over what they feel are unwelcome invasions of their privacy to others, who are so grateful to those willing to help.

Hundreds of cars idle down Liberty Road to see the 8.5 miles of destruction - the tornado's ground zero.

"Look, look everybody's got their cell phones, cameras snapping. So I guess it's just a tour, a sight," said Monique Howard.

The street has become sacred ground for her family since her aunt, Shirleen Howard, was killed when winds up to 125 miles per hour picked up her mobile home and tossed it 50 yards away.

"Where were these people when all this was going on? You know when they saw my aunt rolling down the street where were these people?" she said.

But inside the rubble there are survivors like Buster, the Stevens' family dog. He was chained to a tree when the tornado rolled through, winds pulled up the dog house he was in and branches fell all around him.

The family's home wasn't so lucky. The roof was damaged, the shed a total loss and the Stevens' Jeep had its windows blown out--a backpack that was inside ended up in a tree.

But offers of help have poured in, companies have donated supplies and labor to build them a new roof. After all that was lost—a renewed faith in the power of friends and family.

The American Red Cross's shelter will remain open Thursday night. This was the third EF-2 tornado in Halifax County since October. But the sheriff says this was the first fatality from a tornado in the last several years.