Cedar Lake, Indiana tornado survivors lose rebuilt home after failed construction project

CEDAR LAKE, Ind. (WLS) -- It's been an tough year for a family in Northwest Indiana after their home was destroyed by a tornado.

Now, they are facing a huge problem. They are out of tens of thousands of dollars and say they are living a rebuilding nightmare.

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It's been more than a year since a tornado decimated parts of Cedar Lake, Indiana. On Thursday, a family watched their home demolished to rubble after going through hurdles with contractors and insurance while still being months away from actually living in their home.

A pile of rubble was what remained of the Sich family's dream home.

"Watching it get torn down was like reliving the tornado all over again," Brenda Sich said.

They say the first contractor they hired misquoted prices and didn't meet municipal codes. After paying a $50,000 deposit on that , they say they were left with this mess while hiring another contractor, just to find out the entire home had to be torn down.

"Instead of helping us they made it ten times worse so now we may not even be able to afford our home,: Brenda Sich said.

They're now pursuing some legal avenues to try and recoup the money they've lost.

When all is said and done, the family believes they'll have spent more than $100,000 without any help from insurance. Despite a premium policy, they say there were exclusions that were not met, and they're hoping others can learn from that lesson and make sure they're covered for these kinds of tragedies.

"Get an attorney or pay somebody a couple hundred dollars that knows how this works and have them go over your policy with you," Steven Sich said.

The homeowners say it's been heartbreaking to see how quickly people can lose out on everything they've worked for, but they've also been overwhelmed with support from the community. A GoFundMe page has already raised more than $4,000 to help them rebuild.

"Our neighbors these beautiful people have reached out in ways you'd never imagine they've given us food clothing shelter," Brenda Sich said.

And now the difficulty remains of living in temporary housing while being unsure if they can afford everything else to come without drowning in debt.

"The memories we made in there... it'll be the same design but it's not the same house," Steven Sich said.

The Sich family isnow just anxiously awaiting their return home, but that may not happen until next March.