Delco community still recovering from major tornado on Halloween

"In terms of this particular tornado," O'Brien explained, "it does look like it was probably the strongest in this area of the state this late in the year, on our records."

Residents of the Cobblestones at Thornbury development in Glen Mills, Delaware County described the aftermath of the Halloween tornado that touched down in their community in an atypical way.

"It's like a party," said homeowner John Hughes, who said everyone pitched in to help pick up debris. "It was unbelievable. That field was full of kids and grownups from Thornbury Hunt, which is another development."

Neighbor John Chessock was in a cheery mood as he cleaned up his yard, not what you might expect from someone who just experienced a tornado. "There isn't too much you can do about it so you just got to go with the flow," he said. 

Chessock also talked about his weekend plans. "Sunday's football day," Chessock said. "I'll take a break for a few hours and watch football and then go back to cleaning up the yard."

Another neighbor, Rich Celeste, talked about how the community was able to stay in good spirits after such a devastating storm. "Nobody got seriously hurt," he noted, "and this brings everybody together."

"They've been here around the clock," Barbara said of the way her neighbors and those in the neighboring community have pitched in to help. "It's been wonderful."

"The positive of the disaster is that it seems to bring out the best in people," said Jody. 

"I mean no day's perfect and this certainly isn't a perfect day but we're all happy, healthy. We woke up on the right side of the dirt, today."

Debris cleanup is expected to take a few more days. Homeowners say they expect reconstruction of their homes to take a little longer. They say the next step is to their insurance estimates on the damage.