Pastor Ricardo Brambila stands on a cement slab where his church once stood.
"Yes, the building is not here, but the people continue to be excited about what God is doing," First Mexican Baptist Church Pastor Ricardo Brambila said.
Entranceway pillars are all that’s left from the 2019 tornado. Brambila said they still stand like the church’s faith that they will rebuild one day.
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But priorities changed for the church during the pandemic.
"We are right now in the moment of making sure our families are stable,” Brambila said. “We don't want to put a burden on them, on finances."
The tornado impacted the financial livelihoods of many businesses in the area. The damage was unbelievable.
"The destruction we faced across the street was pretty enormous,” said Floors Masters General Manager Dalila Colunga. “It pretty much tore down the whole building."
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It was the same situation for Philip Lang and the property he owned.
"The roof and all down there collapsed to the ground and we've rebuilt the building and redone the entire façade," said Lang Properties owner Philip Lang.
Although both businesses have rebuilt getting to this point hasn't been easy. The devastating tornado wasn't their only battle.
"COVID hit in the middle of this whole thing and that killed the supply chain and labor and permitting process way more difficult because you couldn't go in person you had to do their online portals," Lang said.
"It's taken a little bit of time for us to recover the population coming back to us but then of course due to the pandemic we lost some customers," Colunga said.
Two years later things are looking a lot better.
"Most of the buildings are getting fixed back up now and everything is coming back around," Lang said.
Maybe slower than they’d like but they know recovery is coming.
"It did not destroy our dreams,” Brambila said. “It delayed our plans."
