NASH COUNTY, N.C. (WNCN) – Risks for more severe weather have kept some North Carolina communities alert—especially those still picking up from a July storm that devastated several homes and businesses.

“If something happens again, that would be hard, that would be hard to take,” said Jodeci Dowdi who was out picking up debris in Dortches Monday afternoon.

Dowdi, who works for Transformation Professionals LLC, said the recovery effort in some of the impacted neighborhoods has been a non-stop process since the storm hit.

“Six days a week, 13-14 hours a day… so it’s been some long days,” said Dowdi.

Marvin Wadsworth with Wadsworth Builders has also been part of the recovery effort since the storm passed through. Wadsworth and his crew were out near Dortches Town Hall rebuilding a shop for B&B Landscaping. He said, “A lot of trees fell on it and just destroyed it, so we’re just trying to get them back in business.”

Both businesses said they’re aware of what families have been going through and the toll the recovery effort has put on volunteers, businesses and residents.

Dortches resident, Armida Avery, recalled the moment she watched the tornado move toward her home that Wednesday afternoon in July. She said, “Fortunately, for us, we didn’t have much compared to the ones close by here. When you look around, you see how devastated they were.”

Avery said she’s been able to repair the minimal damage to her home, but she knows her neighbors still have a long way to go. Looking at another risk of severe weather including strong wind gusts and hail, Avery looked at the homes in her neighborhood and added, “Honestly, some of them are so devastated, it probably wouldn’t matter. There’s nobody living in these houses and some of them can’t be torn up anymore than they already are.”

“But I imagine people are a little nervous like I am. We certainly don’t want to have to deal with it all over again, that’s for sure,” said Avery.

Nash County Emergency Services Director Tony Cameron said they posted on social media and reached out to agencies in the area to inform residents of possible bad weather Monday. Cameron said they were looking at a Level 2 risk for severe weather but could only be patient before knowing the storm’s full impact. He said several agencies can only prepare for whatever is to come.

The Nash County Sheriff’s Office—among agencies ready to respond— helped in the early stages when the tornado in July swept through. Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone said deputies helped with the immediate response and also patrolled areas to prevent looting in neighborhoods.

“We have deputies that are trained with chainsaws, and we take that team out and open up roadways and open up areas that need traffic,” said Sheriff Stone. He said these crews worked with the Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Highway Patrol in July to clear major roadways in just three to four hours.

“When roadways shut down, everything shuts down. We have the interstate system here, I-95 there, 70 million vehicles travel that every year… There’s a possibility of bad weather coming in again today. We’re prepared and we’re ready to go.”