BENTON, Pa. -- A tornado ravaged the Benton area of Columbia County. The damage was so bad in Benton that the police department posted on social media that people should stay away from the borough.
It was an emotionally and physically grueling day for a lot of people in Benton. About a dozen homes and businesses were damaged in the storm.
The EF1 tornado that touched down brought winds up to 110 miles an hour.
The twister knocked trees into homes, ripped roofs off of buildings, and snapped trees in half on Mill Race golf course. Terry Sangrey is a contractor helping to clear debris from the tornado.
"Disaster zone. I actually counted 25 trees right here broken off," Terry Sangrey, Flagger Force contractor, said.
The clubhouse at the golf course is also destroyed. Neighbors say it burned to the ground during the storm.
Just down the street, a barn was ripped to pieces and a roof was torn off a home.
Luke Verbyla needed the help of his neighbors after the storm leveled his farm.
"We never called anybody. We did not call one person and we had people here at 2 a.m. seeing if everything was OK, checking on the cattle," said Verbyla.
Luke's neighbors spent the day putting the roof back on his barn and helping his family get back on their feet.
"Humbled, very humbled. We couldn't have done it without them," he said.
According to PPL, 720 people were without power in Benton Monday night. It's estimated they won't get the electricity back on until around 11 p.m. Tuesday.