As the two-month anniversary of the devastating May 10 tornadoes creeps closer, Eddie Hansen still doesn’t have his own room in his rural Granby house.

Hansen, as featured in a previous story in the Daily News, was a senior this past year at East Newton High School and returned from a track meet to find his house partially destroyed by the tornado.

Since then, the family has been trying to put the pieces back together and rebuild their two-story house back to the way it was before the tornado — two stories.

The tornado took off the top story of the family’s house, off of Raccoon Road near East Newton High School. Gone with the top story was Hansen’s room.

The first major task the family undertook was putting the trusses up and within a few days friends from the family’s church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, across from ENHS, showed up to help.

Within three days the family had the roof back on and, with the help of a pair of work crews from Monett and Carthage, the roof was sheeted and shingled.

“We had quite a bit of people help,” said Hansen.

Hansen noted it was important to get that job accomplished first.

“It was really big, but when it rained it would get into the house and ruin the Sheetrock.
We had to get it done quick and quit letting it get wet in the house,” said Hansen.

After the roof was done, Eddie, brothers Matt, 24, and Johnny, 14, along with their father Darrell, started putting the house back together.

The family is adding an addition to the side of the house, while working on the inside the house, as well as replacing the siding that was peeled off the house like skin on fruit.

Part of the work includes Eddie’s room.

“We still got some electrical work to do and then we got to get the sheet rock in,” he said. “It’s not quite normal looking it, but we are getting closer.”

Hansen, like he did in the aftermath of the storm, still sleeps on the family couch
In the midst of all the cleanup, things have been rather busy for Hansen, 18. He graduated from high school, then he went to Jefferson City for the Class 3 State Track & Field Championships and most recently he completed summer school at Crowder College — where he will attend in the fall.