If it weren’t for Susan Noesen’s sense of humor and optimistic outlook on life, dealing with her tragedy would have been much more difficult. Noesen, a resident of Alexandria, recalls the very day that the unthinkable happened: a tornado ripped through her town, temporarily displacing her after her home was significantly damaged.

May 12, 2022 began as an ordinary day for Noesen. After a busy morning of paperwork, Noesen drove into town to meet a friend. While away from her home, she was met with intense rain and thunder, causing her to drive back. Noesen soon realized she completely missed a severe tornado that caused destruction throughout her neighborhood.

Noesen pulled into her driveway to find her house battered by the storm. A tree covered what was once her deck, and her roof was nearly gone altogether. To her relief, her cat and two dogs were waiting for her unharmed.

“There were my dogs waiting for me, and then there was a great big skylight in my living room,” Noesen recalled. “I always wanted a skylight, but I don’t think I wanted one quite that big.”

With her home in an unlivable state, Noesen packed what she could find and checked into a hotel with her animals. After hopping from hotel to hotel, Noesen temporarily checked her animals into a kennel and moved into an apartment. Despite her setback, she persevered through positivity.

“I always look for the humor in things. That’s what my method of coping is. I didn’t lose my house completely like other people did,” Noesen said.

Noesen found hope for the future of her home after receiving a Rural Disaster Home Repair Grant from USDA Rural Development. Her grant reimbursed her for repair expenses that her insurance company did not cover. Among her needed repairs were plumbing, air conditioning, heat, and electrical. The tornado also ripped out her insulation, and a month of rain afterwards led to mold damage.

Single Family Housing Loan Specialist Brian Leyh worked closely with Noesen on approving her grant funding. After securing contractors to take on many of her home’s repairs, Noesen finally moved back home with her pets.

“She is so happy to be living at home again. She sees a light at the end of the tunnel to get her house back to what she remembered,” Leyh said.

Noesen’s biggest takeaway from this life altering event is the importance of being prepared when disasters strike.

“There are things I didn’t know that I took for granted,” Noesen said. “It’s all kinds of things that you become educated on in a hurry that you didn’t know you needed to know.”