MICHAEL and Eileen Kiely's 9m motor home weighs five tonnes. But to their terror, in Thursday night's tempest it proved little more than a child's toy.
The couple, who have lived in the Winnebago for eight years, were inside when the storm struck Kyffins Reserve at Mulwala, the force of the gale levelling trees.
"It picked the motor home up and carried it for 20 metres and dropped it like a hot potato," Mrs Kiely, 72, said from her hospital bed in Melbourne.
See the pictures of the tornado damage
"It flipped it over like a pancake. It was the most traumatic thing. We've had a very bad time," she said.
"It was the scariest thing I've ever been through.
Keith Corney and his son, Travis, were inside thier caravan when a tree fell on it in a tornado and forced the roof to collapse. Picture: Chris Scott
The Winnebago was dumped on its side and the lights went out. The door was flush to the ground so, after scrambling for a torch, they smashed their way out through the windscreen.
"We could smell diesel and petrol. We needed to get out before there was a fire," Mr Kiely said.
Keith and Christine Corney sheltered in their van with their teenage son as a tree crashed through their roof. Mr Corney had been sitting in the kitchen with his wife when the van lifted, and branches tore through the cabin.
"I got up to calm down my wife because she was frightened by the noise. Then we heard the crash," he said.
Eileen Kiely with daughter Sharleen Kiely in the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne Australia after being injured by a tornado. Picture: Hamish Blair
"My son is a bit shell-shocked. I just can't believe how the trees have been uprooted and are strewn about the place."
Mr Corney stayed with his terrified wife while his son knocked at other vans to check on those inside.
"It's unbelievable that there are no fatalities," Mr Corney said.
"We've never been through something like this. It's scary to think what could have happened."
Mr Corney said that everyone had banded together to offer support.
A series of tornadoes has ripped through the Denison caravan park in Mulwala, NSW. Picture: Chris Scott
Lois and Tom Langcake, of Queensland, described a frightening night as their van rocked in the wind and tree branches lashed its sides.
"I thought we were going to die. I've never been so scared in all my life," Ms Langcake said.
The tornado tore into the tiny community of Koonoomoo, northwest of Cobram, destroying four homes and damaging 12 others. The Koonoomoo store was torn to pieces.
Locals described being left in a "war zone".
The town's landmark, The Big Strawberry, was barely bruised, but its shop was badly damaged.
Sergeant Gerard Warrin, of Cobram police, said it was sheer luck the tornado skirted his more populous town. "We're just thankful no one has been injured here.
"With the devastation in the surrounding area, it's amazing," he said.
"You can see the force of it. The power was awesome. It just snapped trees in half."
Debbi and Rob Turner fought back tears and held each other.
They said they had clung for support to the furniture inside their van. But the van next to them flipped in the air and lay in a messy heap 40m away.
"It could have been us," Ms Turner said.
Denison County Caravan Park cabin owner Dave Gann compared the destruction with Darwin's infamous Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Day 1974.
"It's total devastation. Thank God it wasn't Easter - with all the people here, it would have been a war zone," Mr Gann said.
Wineries in the Rutherglen region were generally unscathed by the severe weather and tornadoes that belted the state's north.
- With Jessica Evans and Wayne Flower
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