Victoria and Mark Katchen were sitting on the porch of their Bennett home Sunday when they saw a funnel cloud in the sky transform into a tornado closing in on their property.

Only moments after fleeing inside to safety, the Katchens found their home of 24 years severely damaged and their barn destroyed by the twister.

Their home was among 17 Bennett-area structures damaged or destroyed by tornado activity on Sunday, according to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.

Nineteen other structures were damaged in Elbert County by a tornado, according to Elbert County officials.

No injuries have been reported.

“It happened so quickly,” Victoria Katchen said outside her home on Monday. “It started getting bigger, and then it looked like it was on the ground. And there we are sitting on the porch.”

After finding shelter inside their bedroom, she said, a chaotic series of events unfolded.

“The sounds were loud,” Katchen said. “The glass was breaking. Everything was hitting the house. It was just loud, and then it went dead silent.”

Katchen said she and her husband now live in a trailer provided by a friend outside their damaged home. Many other neighbors have offered their support, she said.

“When there’s trouble, there’s people who always chip in,” she said of the Bennett community.

The Katchens’ barn was leveled, leaving pieces of what used to be a bright red barn stacked on top of each other.

Between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday, the National Weather Service reported tornado touchdowns north and west of Bennett, located 40 miles east of Denver. Another tornado touched down roughly 11 miles east of E-470 and southeast of Aurora Reservoir.

Impacted residents in Bennett can seek help at the Bennett Park & Recreation Center at 455 1st St.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. And I look forward to it never happening again,“ said rec center Director Leila Schaub, a 27-year resident of Bennett.

More tornadoes touched down in Arapahoe and Elbert counties. One swirled near the town of Elizabeth and through the Elkhorn Ranch neighborhood, where 19 homes were hit, according to the Rattlesnake Fire Department.

Elkhorn Ranch resident Greg Torfin said he flew back from California on Monday morning after hearing the news Sunday that his house was damaged.

Torfin, who has lived in the neighborhood since 2006, said he “has never seen anything like this.”

“It must’ve been one heck of a storm,” he said.

Torfin added his dogs at the home were rescued by Rattlesnake firefighters because his dog sitter wasn’t home.

“But we made it,” Torfin said while rummaging through the damage. “It’s just things, it’ll be OK.”

One Elkhorn Ranch homeowner, who wished to remain anonymous, said her dogs were missing until midnight before they were found.

Elkhorn Ranch resident Tim Greenwood said his barn, roof and half his home are now gone.

“Windows started popping, debris started flying,” Greenwood said. “We had 10 seconds to get to the basement.”

“Once we did,” he said, “it just started erupting, wood breaking, loud noises and all kinds of stuff.”

Local recovery efforts have begun.

Some homeowners have launched fundraising campaigns to recover lost belongings and cover insurance deductibles.

In Bennett, one family seeks to raise $20,000 through GoFundMe for an insurance deductible after their parents’ home was damaged by the tornado.

“My mom and dad made it to the downstairs bathroom with seconds left before the windows began blowing out. Miraculously, they were not injured, but they are truly devastated to see their home for 30-plus years destroyed in a matter of seconds,” a family member said on the fundraising page.

One Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputy said he caught the tornado on dashcam while in Elbert County and helped assess damage of residential homes. 

Elbert County officials plan to provide handouts about its crisis recovery program to all residents in the Elkhorn Ranch neighborhood on Tuesday, according to Office of Emergency Management Interim Director Juliet Madsen.

County officials suggest that those impacted hire contractors who are licensed in Elbert County.

“We’re counting our blessings that there were no reported injuries nor deaths from the May 18 tornado. However, there was significant damage and debris,” Elbery County Commissioner Byron McDaniel said in a news release.

“Our staff will continue assessing the area for damage to public property,” he said.