As the storm bore down, the residents of Conway didn’t have much time to react. After all, few in this Western Massachusetts town would have expected a tornado in February.

Linda McDaniel said she stood still in the downstairs of her home Saturday evening as the wind howled outside. What she thought was a tree limb scraping the outside of the house turned out to be the wind tearing part of their roof off their home along Whately Road.

She and her husband said they were among the lucky ones. A neighbor’s recently renovated barn was blown over, and another friend nearby had the front of their home destroyed. It was like looking into a dollhouse, she said.

“Our neighbors really had severe damage done to their home, so we feel fortunate that we were on the light end of it,’’ McDaniel said Monday, as the Franklin County town continued to clean up and reopen roads after the state’s first February tornado since recordkeeping began.

The tornado first touched down in Goshen, though the damage in Conway — population 1,900 — was more severe, according to the National Weather Service.

“Although no one was injured and there was no loss of life, thousands of trees were downed, roads were blocked, and the Conway Congregational Church and more than six residences were severely damaged,’’ the town said in a news release.

Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito visited Conway on Monday with state emergency management officials. The Conway Firemen’s Auxiliary has set up a fund-raising page to help with the recovery, and the town also has a relief fund at Greenfield Savings Bank.

In Conway, the tornado hit about 7:20 p.m. Saturday, and its path spread as wide as 200 yards as the storm approached the town hall. Wind gusts reached about 110 miles per hour, the weather service said.

“Several people that we spoke to heard a tell-tale roaring sound and immediately sought shelter in their basements. It was very fortunate that nobody was killed in this event,’’ the service said in a notice.

McDaniel said that realization dawned on her Sunday morning, when she went outside to see the extent of the damage. One neighbor’s roof was “wrapped like tissue paper around a tree,’’ she said, and slate tiles had flown off another building.

She said she has seen extreme weather in her 27 years living in town, but never a storm like this.

“It only lasted about a minute or two,’’ she said. “There really wasn’t time to go into the cellar. You just stood there and listened, wondering what was going on.’’

Andy Rosen can be reached at andrew.rosen@globe.com.