Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of a massive blast that shook a Mississauga community and Mayor Bonnie Crombie said it has taken longer than anticipated to get residents back in their destroyed homes.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Crombie told reporters that 25 families still remain displaced from their homes following the explosion at 4201 Hickory Drive which left two people dead on June 28, 2016.

“We were hoping they would be back (in their homes) by Christmas or early September,” she said. “It has taken a lot longer than I had hoped – certainly I know that the residents had wished it had taken (less time).”

A resident of Hickory Drive Anthony Caputo told CTV News Toronto that the cracks in his foundation are getting worse and he has spent the past year fighting with insurance companies and engineers.

“I want the house back to where it was on June 28 of last year at 4:19 p.m. because this happened at 4:20 p.m.,” he said.

The cause of the explosion was deemed as a double suicide that killed 55-year-old Dianne Page and her 55-year-old husband Robert Nadler. Their home was obliterated in the explosion.

At the time, approximately 800 addresses were affected by the explosion that sent heavy debris flying hundreds of metres from the blast zone. A short time later, building code orders were issued to 69 heavily damaged homes. Of those homes, 25 remain uninhabitable.

On March 1, Mississauga city councillors voted to waive the municipal portion of the property tax bill for 25 homeowners who were unable to return to their homes at the time.

The decision came after Ward 3 Mississauga councillor Chris Fonseca moved a motion in council that called on the city to issue a grant equivalent to the outstanding property taxes owed by displace residents, arguing that the circumstances were “extraordinary.”

At the news conference, Fonseca said that while they have been able to provide some financial support, she is still hearing from residents every day.

“This recovery for residents has been and continues to be exhausting and stressful,” she said.

Fonseca and Crombie said they will continue to help residents throughout the process, including voting to alleviate property taxes for 2017 if necessary.

As well, Crombie said it is time for the “insurance companies to do their part” to get residents back in their homes. A representative for the Insurance Bureau of Canada told CP24 that adjustors have been involved in the process.

“There was a delay in getting access to these properties because there was an active investigation. It was about a month (before we were able to gain access),” Director of Consumer and Industry Relations Pete Karageorgos said. “Then you have to factor in that you need engineers, building officials to review the homes to make sure that the repairs that are needed are actually addressed and then architects to draw out what is needed. There’s a whole host of contractors and officials behind the process.”