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One week later, Virginia Beach families still unsure what's next after tornado

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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Sunday marked one week since a powerful tornado hit in the Great Neck area of Virginia Beach.

The EF-3 tornado damaged more than 100 homes and left millions of dollars in damage.

But the journey to rebuilding continues while cleanup efforts have improved.

"I'm still a little overwhelmed, we're having to plan probably to take our house down," said Roseann Owens.

News 3 reporter Kelsey Jones spoke with Owens Sunday, who said cleanup efforts for them remain a heavy lift.

While the road to recovery is far from over, improvements have been made.

Jones walked with Owens canvassing the damage.

Owens said her focus is trying to collect family photos that she can't put a price on.

"I'm just putting them in a bag and we'll deal with them as time goes on. I'll try and dry them out, and take a picture of them, maybe get them restored. They're all over the place. Everywhere you look, you're stepping on another family's face," said Owens.

As the number of homes considered to be destroyed rises after the April 30 tornado, notices can be seen on many doors saying that it's unsafe to live there.

"The ceiling was coming down in the front foyer and that's when they said, 'That's it. Out," said Owens.

While some families experienced more devastation than others, Jones made another visit to the Maurer family to see if things have improved for them.

"I had tree root balls that were in my yard that took the sidewalk out" said Chip Maurer.

Maurer is praising the city for their hard work.

He's relying on his insurance and is unsure how much repairs will cost him.

"I'm just glad nobody got hurt," said Maurer.