"That's what we called this place, Little Eden. It was the place we could finally call home like we owned it. It was ours. And it felt like an Eden, so to speak," Jonah Mills said.
He described the sanctuary he and his siblings once shared, which was left in a state of mold and grime after their home flooded during the storm last year. The Mills family now has a new home, custom-built, flood-resilient house.
"It's weird for sure. It doesn't feel real still, but, I mean, it's the same place. It's just a different house," Jonah said.
Engineered to withstand high floodwaters, it will house all five members of the Mills family, along with their pets, who all survived the storm.
For the family, it's a new beginning, but the horrors of that day still linger.
"We had to listen while we were on the roof to somebody not make it. One of our neighbors in the trailer park did not survive. He was screaming for help until he couldn't scream for help anymore," Jonah told ABC11 Eyewitness News.
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The Mills family was trapped with nowhere to go. Only quick thinking by Jonah ensured their survival. He grabbed a knife, a hammer, and a baseball bat, smashing a hole through the ceiling. One by one, he pulled his parents and siblings onto the roof.
His father, Lance Mills, said, "If it wasn't for Jonah, we may not have been here today."
"I'm not sure I was really all together there. I was really following (Jonah's) lead, and he was assertive enough and brave enough to lead the way," he said. "So, we're very grateful for him... He was the hero that day."
Jonah said the experience gave him a new understanding of what home really means.
"I'm a lot more patient with pretty much anything now... The ones you love -- that's not even the top thing that matters... That's the only thing that matters," he said. "I could live in a shack, and as long as my folks are okay, then that's cool."
Lance reflected back on those first days after the storm. He said it felt like they had lost everything.
Today, when he sees his family, he hasn't lost anything.
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