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People relocated after tornado in Dundalk

High winds rip roof off apartment building
Posted at 6:31 PM, Nov 05, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-05 18:33:49-05

When a tornado ripped the roof off of a building in the Holabird East apartment complex Friday night, Christian Pinetta was one of the lucky ones.

 

"With no warning or nothing.  We didn't even know this was going to happen," said Pinetta.

           

A quick trip to Walmart provided Pinetta and his family with shelter from the storm, and it was only upon his return that they learned of the damage.

 

"I see ambulance.  I see firefighters.  I see police all over here, and I'm thinking something went wrong,” said Pinetta, “I came and parked in front of my building and I see everybody evacuating.  I didn't know what was going on and I was going to go into my building and they said, 'You can't go in there.'"

           

The National Weather Center would later confirm a EF-1 tornado with winds up to more than a hundred miles per hour and blown the roof off forcing dozens of people to evacuate.

 

"A lot of people were helping each other out getting everybody out of the building,” said Pinetta, “Maintenance was out here as well making sure everybody was safe... out of the building."

           

The property's managers have since identified enough vacant apartments to relocate the residents, like Christian Pinetta, who weathered a tornado a lived to tell about it.

 

"I thank God most of all.  He's been there for us,” said Pinetta, “For some reason, He had us get out of the building before that happened and thank God they gave us another place.  I'm pretty blessed right now to have somewhere else to go now."