Habitat For Humanity Helping In North Mpls.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's been more than four months since a tornado tore through North Minneapolis, damaging hundreds of homes.
The work to repair those homes continues, and now the uninsured and under-insured are getting more help.
This is in coordination with World Habitat Day, an annual event through the United Nations which is set aside to highlight the issue of affordable housing.
This year, the focus is on disaster recovery, so volunteers are working around the world in areas recently afflicted, such as tsunami-ravaged Japan, tornado-torn Joplin, Mo., and also in North Minneapolis.
About 4,000 homes were damaged when a tornado came through the area in May. Of those, 200 were left uninhabitable, and some homes are still being fixed months after the storm.
"It's been pretty hard," said Terry Sumrall, whose home sustained about $20,000 in damage. "I was unemployed for a long time. So we had to let the insurance go to keep the mortgage going. So I didn't have any insurance at the time. Habitat came through for us and helped us a lot."
Habitat is focusing on getting the windows of Sumrall's home, almost all of which were blown out, fixed. They're also helping with fresh coats of paint.
The good news for Sumrall is that he did find work not long after the tornado struck.
