A BENDIGO family is watching their new house rise from what was wreckage, one year after a tornado tore down their family home.
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This week marked one year since a tornado ripped through Axe Creek, destroying Wayne and Rachel Eve's family home.
Mr Eve believed he escaped death by metres, as he was at the front door when the tornado hit.
Mrs Eve said she still felt a bit of disbelief about what had happened.
But she said her feelings were moving towards looking forward to their new home, as the build continues.
The house's frame and roof trusses went up on Tuesday.
Mrs Eve said it was the community support that kept the family on their Axe Creek property.
"It made all the difference," she said.
"It probably helped us to see forward, and to continue going on, to stay in that community.
"It would have been easier to just sell up and move somewhere else that didn't have that history."
Mrs Eve said the last six months felt like limbo, because it was hard to plan for the future before the house was built.
She said the family was still finding things strewn throughout nearby bushland.
OTHER NEWS:
Mrs Eve said she started to really process what had happened to her family as she saw thousands of people lose homes to bushfires this summer.
"My heart was breaking because it wasn't the same, but it was happening to other people," she said.
"The bushfires threw up a lot of things for me in regards to ours. Just reliving that heartbreak of so many people feeling helpless, and how can you help? And really wanting to, because you can relate.
"We were so well supported with fundraising and stuff when our disaster happened, that we in turn made sure we passed it on and gave back."
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