Health Plus: Coping with storm loss - KWWL - Eastern Iowa Breaking News, Weather, Closings

Weeks have passed since the May 25th tornadoes swept through eastern Iowa, but the stress and strain they caused still linger.

Jo Stock lost her home in the tornado.
"You could hear things hitting the house and then the real, real loud roar -- louder than i ever imagined it would be."

In thirty seconds, thirty years of memories in Parkersburg were gone.
"My husband looked up and he said, 'Our house is gone.' You could see blue sky," says Stock.

Luckly everyone was okay, except for the family dog.
Their 5-year-old rotweiller, Xena was killed.

Stock is now back to work at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, but she's still on a emotional rollercoaster.
"One day will be good. The next day I'll feel lost. You know, I feel like I'll never be home again."

Social worker Ron Larson expects up to fifty percent of tornado and flood survivors will go through some acute stress that could turn more serious.
"If you felt the blues and you felt disorganized and you felt unable to function for up to two weeks," says Larson.
That's when he says you should seek professional help.

Jo is confident she'll get better on her own, but it will be a long time before she feels like life is truly back to normal.

Now that her youngest is going to college, Jo and her husband are moving to Waterloo.