It’s been five years since nearly 20 tornadoes hit the Dayton area on Memorial Day that left dozens of people injured and one killed. Over 7,000 homes were damaged.
Errin Moore remembers the deadly tornado as though it happened yesterday.
He had wrapped up Memorial Day celebrations with his friends and was settling back into his apartment when the tornado went through.
“Once that was over, I went outside and I looked across the street and I saw so much damage,” Moore said. “ I heard screams, I heard yelling.”
In the aftermath, local organizations partnered with survivors to help.
Laura Mercer led recovery efforts at that time through the Miami Valley Long Term Recovery Operations. She said despite challenges, they have been able to find some housing for survivors.
“We were able to spin off an affordable housing project, and that was partially in response to Montgomery County and the region’s shortage of affordable housing," Mercer said.
Those efforts have helped build homes for survivors like Moore, who is now a first time home owner.
This is through the Pathways to Homeownership program run by local nonprofit County Corp, helped with federal funding.
The program provides down payment assistance, as well as coaching and advising for homeownership.
The Pathways program has helped build 17 homes for 2019 tornado survivors.
Moore is happy to have a home to call his own. But he thinks the tragedy made the homelessness crisis in the region worse.
“Yes, those people that are homeowners and had renters insurance and homeowner's insurance can rebuild,” Moore said. “But we tend to forget about the people who had none of that. There's an increase of people being homeless that I never saw before the (2019) tornado.”
