NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) — The staff at Iberia Medical have worked tirelessly over the past four months to repair the damage left behind by the tornado and today they provide a little insight into what it’s been like.

Dr. Kurt O’Brien, said, “We all went out and we looked, and sure enough we could see the tornado coming through the cane field at us and we could see the debris flying up and all that. So, I said ok guys time to get in the stairwell, so we all hustled and got in the stairwell.”

With the tornado leaving behind extensive damages to several areas of the building and much of the exterior windows, Jacob Freyou said the team has worked extensively with engineers to make sure newly installed windows can handle strong winds like the ones felt in December.

“We had to do a structural analysis with engineers who looked at these glass panels and they recommended panels with two heat treated panels which is going to make this three times stronger than we had,” Freyou said.

While the repairs are underway, Dionne Viator, president of the medical center, said it also gave them a chance to renovate other areas of the building.

“As you walk into the building you see a lot of the flooring and wall coverings that need to be replaced, it’s an opportunity for us to upgrade a lot of that so that the entry ways and a lot of the doors and mechanicals of how that works will all e upgraded as a part of that as well,” Viator said.

As the medical center continues to make progress each day, Freyou said it’s special to see the comeback being far greater than the setback.

“I was born in this hospital in 1972 and I’ve been working here for 26 years so to be a part of this it means a lot to see what the whole work force went through and now we’re rebuilding so we’re going to be stronger and better, so it’s exciting,’ Freyou said.

According to Viator, the renovations are expected to last through the rest of the year, with the hope to complete the building in 2024.