Raleigh family moves back home after tornado

The Baldovino family credited their insurance company and contractors for speeding the repairs to their home in the McKinley Mill subdivision in northeast Raleigh, allowing them to move back in Friday.

"We really just focused on getting to this day," Kristine Baldovino said.

"We're all excited to be back and hopefully get back to routine stuff," said her husband, Neal Baldovino.

"Once we achieve that, everything will fall into place," his wife said.

The tornado pulled the roof off their Serendipity Drive home, stripped off siding and damaged the garage.

"There was insulation all throughout the home, even in closets," Kristine Baldovino said.

Insurance covered the $82,000 in repairs to their home, as well as the cost of the apartment where the Baldovinos stayed with their two sons while the house was being fixed.

The couple took the opportunity to upgrade their home at the same time, paying for granite counter-tops and new cabinets in the kitchen and tile floors in the bathrooms.

"We tried to use the opportunity and turn it into a positive," Kristine Baldovino said.

Recovery will be a much longer process for some of their neighbors.

More than a dozen McKinley Mill houses remain draped in blue tarps as crews try to repair damage from the April 16 tornado. Two other homes in the neighborhood were razed because of extensive storm damage.

"We're all just focused on rebuilding. I think remaining positive has helped our neighborhood," she said.