WINTERSET, Iowa — March 5 marks two years since a deadly tornado ripped through central Iowa.
Seven people were killed that day: one in Chariton and six people in Madison County.
Mandy and Ryan Gainuss survived the tornado on as they sheltered in their house on Carver Road in Winterset. Mandy is grateful to still be here today, but said rebuilding their lives every day since 2022 has been challenging.
When you drive down Carver Road today, it's hard to picture what she is describing.
"The house was here. It was a two-story farmhouse built in 1915," Mandy told Local 5.
At a glance, all that's noticeable is a storage tent, a few cars and mounds of rubble.
"It was sad. That house saved our lives during the tornado but we knew that we could never live in it again. So it was best to tear it down and start over," she said, pointing to the rubble and a gaping hole where their home once stood.
Starting over for Mandy and her husband Ryan means rebuilding a large part of their lives, a part they spent years creating together. And the deadly EF-4 tornado that carved its way through Madison County two years ago destroyed it all in an instant.
Living just feet away from the destruction, the reminders of March 5, 2022 are constant.
"My husband bought this shed with his savings," Mandy said as she described the shed on the property they are currently living in. "We ran electric to it, insulated it, put paneling up. And yeah … this is our home."
Mandy didn't expect they'd be living in the shed two years later.
"We thought maybe the first winter and maybe spring, possibly a summer but yeah we didn't expect it to be going on two winters," she said.
Between 2022 to now, Mandy describes life as having many ups and downs.
"It doesn't seem like two years but at times it does."
The challenges Mandy and Ryan have faced slowed down time. The difficulties with their insurance have brought progress to a halt.
"We fought with them. We had replacement costs and what they gave us wasn't even half of what it'd cost to even fix the house. So we're quite a bit short to build a new home or fix that one safely," Mandy explained.
That's when they turned to nonprofit GoServ Global for help, and when starting over turned into action.
"Two or three weeks ago people came out and tore our house down, burned it down and that was bittersweet to watch," Mandy recalled.
As March 5 approaches, memories of that day in 2022 flood back.
"I've started having dreams about tornadoes again recently. I can feel the anxiety coming up. Each day as it gets closer, it gets a little worse," Mandy said.
But, reflecting on the kindness the couple has received props them up and brings them closer together too, creating new memories.
"I always tell everyone that a tornado didn't get rid of me so he thought he might as well marry me. He said he was never getting married and then after the tornado, he's like 'Let's get married so the next month.' We got married out here on the porch of our house," said Mandy, as she cracked a big smile.
That porch no longer looks out at Carver Road, but Mandy and Ryan believe with everything in them, there's a plan in place even if they can't see it just yet.
"Trusting God that things will work out in the end and we'll have a home," she said.
GoServ Global told Local 5 News just in the last several weeks, they've been able to draft a plan to build a new house for Mandy and Ryan. But right now, they are looking for any volunteers with construction skills and anyone who can donate building supplies.
There are plans right now to hold a fundraiser on Sunday, April 14 in Winterset. GoServ Global is still working on the final details for that event.
GoServ Global said you can make tax-deductible donations through the Gainuss family's home church in Waukee — Reveal Community Church — or Winterset Four Square Church, PO Box 213.
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