Rocky Mount business owner returns to store damaged in EF3 tornado six months ago

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) -- Today marks six months after a devastating tornado tore through Rocky Mount causing major damage.

More than 12 people were injured when the storm slammed our region back in September.

Six months later and business owners are trying to rebuild, others have relocated.

ABC11 stopped by Pretty Essentials, a women's boutique that supports breast cancer survivors.

The owner, Keisha Justice, was inside the building when the powerful tornado touched down.

The storm and the damage to the boutique forced her to shut down her business for three months, eventually finding a temporary space.

Now she is preparing to move back into her boutique space.

ABC11 was with her as she saw the renovations to the building.

"This is my very first time being back in the building. Everything looks so fresh. Everything looks very fresh and ready to reenter into the building. But yeah, this is exciting because it is my very first time being back into what I call home," Justice said.

She plans to move back into her original space in a few weeks.

Rocky Mount Interim City Manager Peter Varney said the tornado was a "surprise and devastating" but added that if there was a silver lining, it was the quick response of emergency crews, who also faced a similar catastrophe last year when a tornado destroyed a large Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in Nash County.