WELLINGTON, Fla. — A year ago, the Buera family lost nearly everything when an EF3 tornado tore through their home off Flying Cow Road. Now, one year later, signs of recovery are visible, but the emotional scars remain.
New fencing and a fresh metal roof mark progress on the property where Carolina Buera once lived with her mom, Mariela. But the reminders of October 9, 2024, are never far.
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"I heard it all, and I felt it… all the vibrations," said Buera.
That night, the tornado from Milton ripped through Wellington, destroying homes and leaving lasting devastation.
“When I was outside, I knew the house was going to be very messed up,” she said.
A closer look around the property still shows traces of the storm’s path, snapped wood on branches, empty spaces where large trees once stood, and the faint sounds of construction as the community finishes rebuilding around the area.
"It's like, weird that it hit us,” she reflected.
Carolina still vividly remembers the horror of that day.
"It's just like that horrific event replaying in my head, and it’s just like, it doesn't leave, the windows breaking, glass flying everywhere, the roof caving in. I heard it all, and I felt all the vibrations,” said Buera.
"I can still imagine, like the dark clouds, the flooding everything, like I could hear it still."
The roof caved in. Birth certificates, passports, and even their only car were lost.
"So you start back from zero,” said Buera.
WPTV first met the Buera family in the days following the storm. Their car, which had been submerged in a canal, was not only how Carolina’s mother earned a living as a delivery driver, but it was also how Carolina got to school.
The community stepped in when the family needed it most, donating a new car and raising more than $20,000 to help them get back on their feet.
“I only got it because of you guys and the wonderful community helping out with it,” said Buera.
Carolina still considers October 9, 2024, one of the worst days of her life.
“Even my brother, he wasn’t even there and it affected him, too,” she said.
“He like fell off the stairs trying to get to us and he like almost broke his leg doing it.”
In an instant, everything changed, including her perspective.
“I was able to turn my life around a little bit, at least mentally and physically,” she said.
Through it all, Carolina says her focus is no longer on what was lost — but what was preserved.
“I still want to make the best out of my life. And it like, kind of like, like, made me go in a circle and think about my life and my family, like we could have been gone that day,” she said.
The Burera family's new GoFundMe can be found here.
