It's been 42 days since a tornado destroyed homes and put lives on hold in Angus, and tonight some people are still out of their homes.

The beleaguered residents are getting more help, but they’re also facing more hurdles.

A new refrigerator was delivered to Chad Pillsworth's home in Angus today.

He is one of a handful of residents who have been allowed back into their homes after a tornado tore through a neighbourhood six weeks ago, seriously damaging more than 100 homes.

Pillsworth says it has been a stressful time and he's happy to be home, even though repairs to his house aren’t complete.

“Everyone is just waiting for us to go back to our normal lives,” says Pillsworth. “And it will be even more stressful, unfortunately, for some of my neighbours because they won't be back into their homes for who knows how long.” 

Pillsworth is one of the lucky ones, because most of the houses are still boarded up,covered in a tarp, and empty.

Kate Campbell says the stress levels among her friends and neighbours is escalating while little work gets done to get families back into their homes.  Today there was only one carpentry crew working on the entire street.

“Everyone has kids,” says Campbell. “I couldn't imagine having to uproot and leave my home for up to a year. New schools, new friends. I couldn't imagine as a parent. No way.”

According to the Township of Essa, 57 building permits have been issued but a number of homes are still waiting for engineering assessments before work can get going. In the meantime, residents continue to live in the nightmare.

"It's normal to experience night terrors," said resident Michelle Mihalus. She says many people have been left traumatized and some families may be slipping into crisis as the mental stresses pile on.

Today several family support and mental health services gathered at the Angus Recreation Centre to reach out to anybody who may need help getting through the aftermath of the natural disaster, especially children.

Mihalus says some things people are facing include, “being afraid to be alone in rooms in the house, being obsessed with the tornado, always talking about it, being fearful of weather and storms.”

There are a number of agenciesin Simcoe County that can offer moral support and counselling.

The easiest way to reach them is by calling 211.