Labor Day was no holiday for Northwood residents and the dozens of volunteers who came out to help in the wake of a deadly tornado that devastated the community.

Volunteers spent the holiday weekend clearing debris from farm fields, salvaging belongings and tidying yards in the town of about 960.

"It's just the right thing to do," said Jim Grote, who drove about 200 miles from his home in Minot on Monday to help with the cleanup. "These people down here aren't having a holiday."

The tornado struck the Grand Forks County town on Aug. 26, killing one person and injuring 18. Officials estimated the damage to private and public property in the area at around $27 million.

Gov. John Hoeven said he's expecting a response this week to his request for a presidential disaster declaration to help the community recover.

National Guard soldiers removed large debris from public areas, and hundreds of volunteers have been helping individuals.

Bonnie Turner, who is helping coordinate volunteer efforts, said more than 1,800 people had come to the town between Wednesday and Sunday to help.

The volunteers included members of church groups and college students, she said.

"We're just so appreciative of these volunteers," Turner said. "That's the North Dakota spirit of people helping people that we've seen so many times in North Dakota."

Several college students used the break from classes to pitch in, said Janet Schauer, a staff member at Christus Rex Lutheran Campus Center at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

"If they didn't go home, they would have slept in, done homework or just hanging out with friends," Schauer said. "Instead, they're putting their muscles to work here and doing a lot of caring."

"I probably would have been studying right now," said Chris Cooper, a graduate student at the University of North Dakota.

Instead, Cooper and others helped a family move out of an apartment damaged by the tornado.

"It's just awesome to see how many people who have come down to help out," Cooper said. "It's been a week since it happened, but there is so much more that can be done."

Abbie Johnson said the twister picked up the roof at her apartment building "and sat it back down."

Many of her belongings were ruined, but volunteers, including Cooper, were helping her salvage what wasn't to move to a storage unit.

"It's been a blessing," Johnson said of the volunteers. "It's so much appreciated - words can't even explain."

Johnson said the town was starting to take shape.

"It looks 100 percent better than it did, but it's not back to normal by any means," she said.

Johnson said she was on the receiving end of good deeds, after helping out clean up Grand Forks a decade ago when the Red River swamped the city.

"I'm amazed at the goodness in people," she said.

"North Dakota is like one big city with one long Main Street," said Mike Montgomery, a minister at Salem Evangelical Free Church in Fargo. He said several people from his congregation - and from other churches throughout North Dakota - were in Northwood on Monday helping out.

Montgomery and others focused their efforts clearing debris from a corn field nearly a mile east of town.

Volunteers picked up sheet metal, wood, even a file cabinet that was flung into the field.

"This stuff would absolutely destroy a combine," Montgomery said.

Scott Klevberg said he was grateful for the volunteers helping to clear his corn and soybean fields.

"My corn is completely covered with scrap iron, tin, shingles - and supposedly - two cars are in here somewhere," Klevberg said.

Thanks to the volunteers, Klevberg said he would be able to salvage a big portion of his crops.

"This is great," he said. "I can't believe they came out to help me."