Tornado near Bendigo deals Axe Creek's Eve family bizzare blow, but community support amazing

Mr Eve said they were sad to lose their beautiful home, but glad to still be here.

He counts himself lucky to be alive. The only person home at the time, he fell into the hall just as the windstorm hit, grabbing his dog as he went.

It sounded like 10 jets as it went overhead, he said, stripping trees bare, throwing items kilometres away, and twisting then dumping roof panels in the trees.

If Mr Eve had been inside the house at the time, it might have been a very different story.

Mr Eve said the support from family, friends, neighbours and complete strangers since the tornado had been amazing.

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The couple plan to rebuild on their property.

"There's no way we're going to leave that street with the support we've had from the street over the past week. You couldn't dream for as good as neighbours as we've got there," he said.

"We love where we live, that's why we were probably so devastated that we lost our home."

It's this support that has kept Mr and Mrs Eve going through a crazy time.

Waking up in a foreign bed and remembering their house is gone, has been tough for both, Mr Eve said.

But people have stepped up, giving money, raising funds and helping to clean up and repair the site.

A gofundme page has raised more than $35,000 for the family.

Mr Eve said they were initially reluctant to begin the page, but their brother and sister in law encouraged them.

They can't believe the response. Hundreds of people have donated, amounts big and small.

Every donation has lifted their spirits, from an anonymous donation of a $1000, to friends' children who have put in their $6 pocket money.

"It's an awesome feeling to tell you the truth. It's so uplifting for us," Mr Eve said.

"The money's going to be amazing to get us back on our feet because we've literally lost everything.

"To see that, it really is amazing. I could not thank people enough full stop."

Family and friends have rallied round, helping with the clean up and logistics.

Complete strangers have come from off the street to give Mr and Mrs Eve their business cards, saying they'd do whatever they needed.

Neighbours who they had never met turned up at the house on Wednesday. They came with a blanket and photograph that had been blown seven kilometres onto their property, and a gift of $500.

"Out of all the bad things that are going on at the moment, the Aussie spirit is truly there," Mr Eve said.

"We will look back in years to come and think, 'Wow'.

"You just can't believe the support we've had not only from our family and friends...the street was amazing from people just rolling up with fish and chips to [plumbers] that we've never met before ... rolled in yesterday and said, 'What can we do for you?'"

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Mr Eve was videoing the weather when the tornado hit. He gets goosebumps every time he views the footage, which shows the developing windstorm, then cuts out abruptly as he is knocked to the ground.

Since then the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed a cold seasonal tornado was what hit the property. At level two on the Fujita scale it brought winds of more than 200 kilometres an hour.

Several Melbourne meteorologists visited the site, and their jaws were on the ground from the second they stepped out of the car, Mr Eve said.

"They explained it as a cold storm, which means that there's a line of weather that came through and it just so happened to bend at our properly," Mr Eve said.

"They said as soon as it hit the house it hit a brick wall, and had nowhere to go so it expanded. It had nowhere to go so it just erupted."

A day after the storm Mr Eve said he was lucky to be alive. His views haven't changed nearly a week on.

"I had about an hour by myself there yesterday afternoon, just walking through and thought 'How am I here?'," Mr Eve said.

"While you walk through you've got no idea. It's amazing, someone was looking out for me."

After spending the week cleaning the site up, demolition began on Friday.

Beginning the process of building a new home is the next step for Mr and Mrs Eve.

"We're staying positive. It's a short straw to get, and a crazy card to be dealt, but we've got to keep going forward and we love the people around us," Mr Eve said.

To donate, visit: gofundme.com/f/help-the-eve-family-rebuild-tornado-torn-home

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