DRESSED in high-vis with a hard hat on head, Tyson Hung was one of the first on scene to help those affected by Monday night's tornado.

And at just 20-years-old, he's one of our youngest SES volunteers in Hervey Bay.

"I've really enjoyed being out in the community and helping those who need it most," he said.

"Events like the tornado are real eye openers as well because I've lived in Hervey Bay my whole life and never seen such bad damage to houses.

"I see stuff like that on the news but it was the first time I'd been in something so bad."

River Heads was hit with a vicious and unexpected tornado about 5.50pm on Monday.

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It left some homes so damaged residents were forced to leave their homes.

Tyson first started in a cadet program when he was 14 and joined the SES when he turned 17.

"We learned a lot of useful skills such as becoming a team leader and how to operate in a team," he said.

"There were a great bunch of kids involved and we were all really good friends."

When Tyson isn't helping the community he's hard at work at his casual job at Coles.

And despite being interested in a future career in retail, he hasn't disregarded the idea of becoming a firefighter.

"The rest of the crew are really supportive and when I make a mistake they always help out and have a great sense of humour," he said.

"SES is a good training ground too and it looks good on the resume."