Damage estimates are in after a freak wind storm blew the roof off an apartment building in Roanoke Thursday afternoon.
It happened around two p.m. at the Sterling Wood Apartments, not far from William Fleming High School.
One person was home with her five-month-old daughter.
"The walls were starting to leak water so I just got scared. It was a hard noise. It was like an airplane coming down, that's how the noise was," said Catherine Lainde.
Firefighters say four apartments have serious damage, about 2 hundred thousand dollars to the building and 12 thousand five hundred dollars in contents.
People were allowed to go inside to try and gather up their things but they had to wear hard hats in case the rest of the ceiling gave way.
Most of the families are staying in vacent apartments for the night.
The Red Cross has also provided them with food, and comfort kits.
We're told a dog was also rescued from the debris.
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High wind ripped off a roof at the Sterling Wood Apartment Complex in northwest Roanoke.
There's six units in the building that lost its roof. Four of the units are heavily damaged.
One woman and baby were in her apartment building on the first floor when the wind took the roof off. She said it sounded like a loud crash and then water started pouring through the ceiling of her apartment.
The building has been deemed unlivable. Residents have been allowed to enter some of the apartments wearing hard hats, but they won't be staying there tonight.
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A line of storms moving quickly through our area damaged buildings and torn down trees and power lines.
The most severe weather happened around 1:50 p.m. Thursday afternoon and ripped a roof off of the Sterling Wood Apartment Complex on Montauk Rd. in northwest Roanoke. There's no word yet on whether anyone was injured or the amount of damage.
In Salem, a tree and power lines came down in an alley near Salem City Hall. Crews are working to clean up the mess.
The storm system passed through the New River Valley, moved through Roanoke, and headed east to the Lynchburg area.
