CONYERS, Ga. — Rockdale County residents continue the clean-up process four days after an EF-2 tornado touched down.
Many of them still need help with costly repairs and construction.
Rockdale County Emergency Management Director Meredith Barnum said all roads are open, but there is still a long way to go.
The Briarwood Community, especially around McDaniel Mill Road, was picking up the pieces Saturday.
Before the storm, Conyers resident Gary Williams had plans to give his house to his son.
"Now, I'm buying materials for the house, trying to get it back together before it rains next Wednesday," Williams said.
Cherrie Maddox was home when the tornado passed through. Luckily, her home is fine outside of a few missing shingles.
"All the pinecones were slamming into the house so hard. It sounded like huge boulders," Maddox
Williams wasn't so lucky. He dealt with flooding.
"It tore up a part of the roof, snatched my power line and the breaker over there off, tore up the fences, trees uprooted," Williams said.
Maddox said she and her family were stuck in their home for two days.
"And when I opened the door, all that was there was trees," Maddox said.
Barnum said several non-profit groups worked with citizens to remove debris from private property and move it out of the right-of-way for collection.
"I appreciate everything. They worked hard," Maddox continued. "They worked through the night."
The trees may be out of the way, but the cost to fix the damage the trees caused is coming out of Williams' pockets.
"I had to pay for that. And that was like $6,000," Williams said.
Williams said The Red Cross gave him some money for a hotel, but he was disappointed the county of state couldn't help more.
"They told me no state funding, and they don't have no disaster relief," Williams said.
He said it would take months to get his place back to what it once was.
"It's like a slap in the face to me," Williams said.
Wiliams said he feels stuck. However, he's grateful to be alive.
"The house, we can repair, but life, we can't get back," Williams said.
Barnum explained that there may be more temporary closures on Monday to get some of the larger stumps and trunks out of the way.
There is a disaster relief shelter at Conyers Methodist Church on Main Street.