What had been a cold, rainy late afternoon turned in minutes into a nightmare ordeal as screaming winds ripped off roofs, damaged houses, shattered and overturned sheds, tore up huge trees, flung trailers and furniture hundreds of metres and scattered debris across a wide area.

One family sheltering in a hallway narrowly missed injury as the tornado threw a tree into the house.

It pierced the roof like a spear, went through a child's bedroom and penetrated an outside wall.

The trail of destruction was long and wide and residents were sifting through the wreckage on Tuesday.

The impacts will not just be about damage to property, the disruption of daily lives or the shattering of dreams and plans.

There is also the issue of recovering from the emotional and mental effects of being subjected to a terrifying ordeal and being totally helpless and at the mercy of unstoppable force.

Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

Property may have been destroyed but community members were safe and unhurt.

Family, friends and neighbours rallied around quickly to help clean-up and give moral support.

Police, SES volunteers and other emergency services did their usual sterling jobs to get lives back to normal as quickly as possible.

The city can take great relief that no one was hurt.