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Washington Terrace • Gaelynn Sewell can't stop staring at the red door.
It stands out in the pile of rubble, which is mostly black shingles, chunks of wood and white paneling. Sewell cries when she looks at it, her tears mixing with the rain running off her face.
"It was so special to us," she said. "It's hard to see it all broken up like that."
The door — which now hangs sideways about a foot from its hinges — marks where Sewell used to walk into her home every day for the past 22 years, where she hung a fall wreath a week ago and where her house used to stand before a tornado damaged it beyond repair Thursday.
The funnel cloud, which wreaked havoc for about two minutes after touching down at 3:45 p.m. in a neighborhood near 200 East and 4700 South, damaged about 30 homes in Weber County. No significant injuries were reported.
Crews and volunteers worked to clean up the area Friday, sweeping up broken glass from shattered windows and clearing felled trees and power lines. Officials estimated that the EF1 tornado caused at least $1 million in damage to buildings, houses, cars and other property in Washington Terrace, said Weber County Sheriff's Lt. Nate Hutchinson.
It originally touched down in Riverdale as an EF0 tornado, with winds reaching 65 to 85 mph as it skipped northeast. Once the twister made it to Washington Terrace, however, winds grew close to 110 mph and it expanded to more than 40 yards wide.
Sewell wasn't allowed inside her home — authorities said what remains of the structure is too unstable — so she stood outside in the rain Friday, her gray jacket and sweatpants soaked, her brown bangs clinging to her forehead. She came with her husband and two kids with the hope of collecting some belongings: a mug Sewell's father left her before passing away, some clothes and any family pictures not ruined by the water pouring in through the half torn off roof.
"I think if we could just go in and get a few things, I would feel more peaceful," she said, shouting over the sound of a chain saw in the background.
Others with homes that were damaged less severely were permitted to return Friday night to check on their houses, Hutchinson said, but the city building inspector had marked buildings that were more dangerous — like Sewell's.
When the tornado first hit, Sewell and her husband Paul were inside the house. The force of the wind pulled the insulation from their walls, she said, making the air inside the house look smoky. Glass shattered around them and their fridge moved a few feet. Both suffered minor cuts and bruises.
Their daughter, Morgan Sewell, 20, drove home from work Thursday to see the destruction and fell to her knees in the street from shock.
"It was like watching a movie," she said. "It was absolutely surreal."
The family is staying at a hotel while their insurance processes. Others in the block are seeking shelter at a nearby senior center, because gas, power and water lines are shut off. At least 12 homes are uninhabitable.
Jay Hudson, 46, lives two blocks away from the area hit the hardest. When the winds came through by his house, he was outside and clung to a pole on his car port for stability.
"I could see the twister with all the debris in it," he said.
Hudson, who has lived in Washington Terrace since 1980, took his chain saw around the affected neighborhoods to help clean up. Garages and sheds caved in, trees fell on top of houses and pieces of homes lined the streets.
More than 400 volunteers showed up Friday, but cleanup could take weeks, officials said.
Kay Krawford moved to Utah from Joplin, Mo., after a tornado flattened his home there in 2011. He lives in Layton now and came to Washington Terrace to survey the damage. While he's seen worse, he sympathizes with the families whose homes were impacted because he, too, has "been through this before."
A second tornado touched down in Utah on Thursday in Panguitch, ripping the roofs off at least three structures just before 7 p.m. The rest of the state also saw extensive weather warnings Thursday and Friday — with flooding in southern Utah and high winds in the eastern part of the state, as well as winter weather at higher altitudes.
After heavy rain in the morning, things started to settle down in Washington Terrace as families tried to figure out the next step — Morgan Sewell says that includes some optimism for the future.
"We can paint our next front door red," she said, "and it will be better."
Twitter: @CourtneyLTanner