“It was a funnel cloud that just came, and I ducked for cover in the garage. It sounded like three Amtrak trains going over the top of the garage and just debris everywhere," said Rick Pimpinella, a business owner in Rome.

He said he saw garbage cans fly during the tornado.

“It was just like the movie Twister. It was just unreal. And they just were flying everywhere. They had to be at least eight, 900 feet in the air, just hitting houses and just there's just debris everywhere. Debris everywhere," said Pimpinella.

The tornado struck just a few days after an exciting time in the Mohawk Valley – Boilermaker weekend.

Many came from near in and far to run, including Rome native and now North Carolina transplant Larry Kroviak.

“I grew up in Rome in the 50s and 60s, and I've never seen anything like this here. But down south, it's common, especially in the Carolinas," Kroviak said.

He spoke by Sherman Avenue, where homeowner Joel Antonowicz had several trees come down on his property.

“Within the past 20 minutes or so, that was my number one priority. It was get to the front door, so I'm thankful that that has happened," Antonowicz said on Tuesday.

“This area is so limited to roofers and construction that we need to get the word out to Syracuse, to other places, Rochester, Buffalo, to see if they can get out here and help these people and stuff. I mean, everybody needs roofs. I mean, you could see, just look at around all the carnage around. I mean, it's crazy," Pimpinella said.

Clean up continues but in the meantime, the folks who know Rome know they’ll get through this chapter.

“The spirit of Rome will come back. These people are resilient and they live here through the winters here," said Kroviak.

“I'm going to tell you something. When you see it on TV and these people in these other states that have disasters like this, you can believe it's real," Pimpinella.