Four months after an EF-2 tornado flattened his Henry County home, actor Tray Chaney and his family are finally moving into a permanent place to live. 

Chaney, best known for his role on HBO's "The Wire," was packing for a trip on May 29 when the tornado struck. His 19-year-old son, Malachi, was upstairs playing video games. In seconds, the house collapsed around them. 

"Out of nowhere, my walls-they just started caving in flat towards my face, my TV, my dressers," Chaney said. "And the first thing you do is you brace up, and I could just feel things hitting me." 

He woke up beneath the rubble of what used to be his bedroom.  

"The first thing out of my mouth was, 'Where is Malachi? Where is my son?'" 

Malachi had been thrown approximately 300 feet, about the length of a football field, from his bedroom. 

"His face was…was lopsided," Tray Chaney said. 

Malachi Chaney's long recovery

"I woke up in a hospital," Malachi recalled. "In a hospital bed, confused and scared, not knowing why my body felt tired and just like limp. I felt like I had been asleep for a year." 

The 19-year-old suffered fractured ribs, a punctured spleen and lungs, a broken vertebra, facial fractures, and a traumatic brain injury. 

"It was so painful until I couldn't cry," Tray Chaney said. "That's how much pain I was in. I go to talk to a therapist three times a week, which I thought I never would have to do, just from replaying how he looked." 

Despite it all, Malachi is now making a recovery beyond doctors' expectations. 

"I felt blessed and so rewarded for this new life that I was given," Malachi said. 

No state emergency, no aid 

The Chaney family's home was the only one in the neighborhood leveled by the storm. Because the damage didn't meet the state's threshold for a disaster declaration, they are ineligible for federal or state recovery funding.

Officials from Henry County told CBS Atlanta they tried to help the Chaney family navigate insurance and secure what assistance they could, but when the damage is localized like it was, the only route is often homeowners' insurance. 

Tray Chaney is now calling on lawmakers to change the rules to allow families in similar situations to access aid even when no official emergency is declared. 

"This is a million-dollar problem," he said in a video shared to Instagram. 

The family is relying on their homeowner's insurance and donations to rebuild. Four months after the storm, they're moving into permanent housing. 

A new chapter and "rebirth" 

The family is documenting their recovery journey in a film, which Chaney said is helping him rediscover his purpose. 

"It's been a rebirth of who Tray Chaney is," he said. "I don't have to chase no more. I'm just happy with being able to live and breathe." 

For Malachi, the experience has been life-changing — and deeply personal. He said he feels he is now living up to the meaning of his name. 

"It means Messenger, sent by God," Malachi said. "So, I guess I was a bit of a message." 

"Thank God, he gave me a second chance," Tray said. "A huge second chance. My mission, my purpose in life, is just bigger than what I thought."