Tornado debris near a south Fort Myers home. Credit: WINK News On Wednesday morning, people are going back outside to repair the damage from an EF1 tornado that destroyed homes in south Fort Myers. One of the hardest-hit areas was Eagle Ridge, near Daniels Parkway and 6 Mile Cypress Parkway. A lot of the people who were in the neighborhood when the tornado hit don’t even live there—like the Kruspe family visiting from Seattle, who WINK News spoke to on Tuesday—but they also have to deal with the aftermath of the first December tornado to hit Southwest Florida in 44 years. “The damage is pretty intense,” said Aaron Kruspe. “Thankfully, it wasn’t worse. I’m very thankful we’re all standing here right now.” “I woke up and I heard my mom screaming,” said Carson Kruspe. “I ran over there in the front doorway, there was a whole bunch of ornaments and everything all tumbled upon the door. And I couldn’t go over there and then my mom, she was… her hand was, like, bleeding.” The Eagle Ridge community has proven resilient, though. Most of the families WINK News spoke with say they planned to stay at their homes Tuesday night, despite how severe the damage was in some areas of the neighborhood. The Munson family put it clearly, echoing the kind of sentiment many other people in Eagle Ridge expressed: We’ve been here for a long time; we aren’t leaving now. “We looked at each other and ran to the closet in the bedroom and just waited in there, our ears popped, the whole bit,” said Ed Munson. “The house was shaking… it was a pretty scary experience.” After disasters like this, insurance companies might surge some of the prices they’re charging you to repair your roof or other parts of your home. WINK News consumer reporter Andryanna Shepard has some great tips to avoid steep price increases: Take out your phone and take pictures of anything and everything surrounding your home that you think you’re going to have to fix Do what you can to prevent any further damage; cover holes, pick up debris, etc. Save all of your receipts if you buy anything to make repairs Check with your insurance adjuster before hiring anyone to do any work