Eye witnesses described seeing the tornado coming from the Lough, lifting anything in its way, uprooting trees, bringing down roof tiles, lifting up cars and tossing a cattle feeder around like a toy.
Some of the residents of Brankinsisland Road were getting ready for their New Year's Eve celebrations when the tornado struck around lunchtime.
Phyllis and Dawson Kennedy, who live on the edge of Lough Neagh, had just returned early from church and were getting ready for lunch when the tornado struck.
The sky turned black and the a white twister circled around the house knocking down huge mature trees and blowing in doors and windows of their conservatory.
As the tornado circled around the house, the couple heard what they could only describe as the sound of an aeroplane flying by.
"It was very scary when I saw the mature trees being tossed down like a deck of cards," said Phyllis. "I thought the world had ended. I was never as frightened in my whole life. We returned from church ten minutes early and if we had been coming home later goodness knows what would have happened."
Phyllis, who has lived in Aghalee for 30 years, was too scared to leave the house and only ventured out the following day to assess the damage. Neighbours rallied round to help the couple remove the 30 trees which were toppled.
"I have never seen anything like this before and hope I never will again," she said. "We just could not believe our eyes when we saw the damage. Neighbours were great coming round to help us."
Another neighbour Mary McCartan described her sons frightening experience when his Audi car was lifted from the ground.
"He just saw his car being lifted," she said. "I don't think people realised just how dangerous the tornado was. "
Dolway Johnston, thought someone was playing a prank when he got a phone call at his holiday home in Bushmills from a relative. He told him a mini tornado had struck his house taking up to 300 roof tiles off his house and damaging six trees around his home .
Only moments before the tornado struck his mother had made a visit to the house. Dolway believes had she been there even five minutes later she could have been killed by a falling roof tile. When Mr Johnston arrived at his house and saw the damage he could not believe what he had seen
"I am just glad that we were not here because it would have been so frightening for the children and just so glad my mother had left when she did. She was just very lucky," said Mr Johnston.
Another neighbour Alma Greer knew something was strange when she heard thunder and saw lightning . She had returned from church when she looked out of her kitchen window to see a huge cattle feeder she owns being tossed about in the wind by what they could only describe by a huge mist.
"It was really frightening it was just going round and round in this mist," she said. "I just thought that it was the end of the world. We still do not know where our cattle feeder has gone."
She remarked that when the tornado struck locally 15 months ago she knew nothing of it until she was told by her neighbours. Now it is Alma who will have a story to tell her neighbours.
John Wylie the Public Weather Service Adviser of the Met Office confirmed the tornado had struck around 1pm on New Year's Eve. He said that for a tornado to strike in the same area was freakishly rare and blamed the very squawly cold front for produing very heavy rain and thunder which caused the tornado. He said it was weather likened to summer rather than winter weather.