HAMBURG, NY -- When it comes to bad weather, Hamburg resident Mark Radder has seen it all.      

"I've lived through blizzards, seven foot of snow, ice storms, four inch thick ice, you had to chip off your car in order get it open, some flooding," said Radder.

But July 20th 2017 was different.

"That day was probably one of the worst days of my life," said Radder.

That was the day four tornadoes ripped through Western New York. One practically through Radder's front yard.

"Well, the first thing I seen was the telephone poles were all down in the street, the wires, and I seen the storm. I didn't really see the funnel cloud but I could see that there was a swath and everything was blowing, and the wind. The rain and all the dirt, the mulch from the ground, it was coming and it was almost like a hailstorm," Radder.

He says heavy winds destroyed 20 trees near his house, damaged the roof, buckled the garage door and ripped apart this children's playset.   

"Right after the storm, it looked like a disaster, it looked like a war zone. The trees were down, the wires were down, there was no power," said Radder. 

Erie County Commissioner of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Dan Neaverth says while tornadoes are rare for the region, they still have to be prepared to handle this type of disaster.

"It was a joint effort. It was county, it was state, it was local, all working together and quite frankly forgetting necessarily that you were from a particular town, you just need to get this cleaned up," said Neaverth.  

Radder says the damages added up to about $50,000 dollars, most of it paid by insurance. One year later he's just grateful it wasn't worse.

"No one was injured or killed. I'll never forget it," said Radder.