Its been a year since a tornado ripped through the Rolling Fields Eldercare Community in Crawford County, causing more than $1 million in damage. Now, residents and staff are expressing gratitude to people who helped them rebuild.

Fortunately, no one was hurt during the tornado. All of the Rolling Fields residents were able to safely get out of the buildings. Residents and staff say that was made possible by community members.

“Really lucky, nobody got hurt, nobody got killed,” said Madelin Hilla, Rolling Fields resident.

Madelin Hilla is one of the 161 senior citizens who were displaced by a tornado that ripped through the Rolling Fields Eldercare Community last year.

As Hilla looks back on what happened, she says it was community members who helped her and the other residents get to safety.

“They were wonderful. They were real calm. They were calm with us. Nobody got excited or freighted or anything like that,” Hilla.

The tornado took out some of Rolling Fields independent living units along with roofs of some of the buildings. In all, the damage totaled more than $1 million.

On the one year anniversary of the tornado, the staff and residents at Rolling Fields wanted to celebrate the fact that whey were able to rebuild and continue operating.

“We couldn’t of done this without our loved ones, the families, our community, our vendors that we work with and the staff, we would not be here today,” said Lisa Haglund, Vice President of Marketing, Heritage Ministries.

Meanwhile, Madelin Hilla has a special message for the people who helped out.

“They did a good job, I’m proud of them,” said Hilla.

The Rolling Fields Administration is inviting the community to celebrate Halloween with them and residents on October 25th.