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Chicago-area tornado victim recounts moment twister hit
Yazid Tierrablanca was caught in the middle of Tuesday nights powerful storms.
MUNDELEIN, Ill. - The sky was falling on a northwest suburban family in Tuesday night's storms.
A teenager was injured when the roof blew off an apartment building at 32 Washington Boulevard in Mundelein. Fifty-nine people were displaced — a total of 21 families.
The EF-1 tornado has been confirmed by the National Weather Service. An EF-1, meaning 86 to 110 mile per hour winds, came through and tore off part of the roof, broke glass in the front door, and toppled over a huge tree.
FOX 32 spoke to the only victim in the middle of it all.
"I was sitting on the couch doing my homework when me and my grandparents started hearing the wind. It sounded like someone was banging on the balcony window," said 13-year-old Yazid Tierrablanca.
Tierrablanca was inside one of the apartment units when the wind was howling and the rain was pouring down. His mom dropped him and his two younger siblings off at his grandparents while she went to work.
"We heard the ceiling cracking, and our first instinct was to hide under the table before my leg got stuck," Tierrablanca said. "When I was stuck, I felt a piece of the ceiling just slam into my arm."
Tierrablanca was the only injury reported. His arm is now in a sling. Doctors told him it's badly bruised, but that he will be okay.
"When I was leaving the apartment, I looked back and everything was destroyed," Tierrablanca said.
Tierrablanca lives just a few feet away in another apartment building that wasn't damaged. But his grandparents and 20 other families are now displaced.
Many of them, including children, are taking shelter at Community Protestant Church, which is located a few blocks away. The Red Cross brought in disaster relief.
"We have set up a shelter so they can have a roof over their head and be somewhere safe," said Mara Thompson, Red Cross.
It's a storm that Tierrablanca, and his family, were able to walk away from, understanding their entire world could've come crashing down.
"I'm just glad I didn't get hurt worse," Tierrablanca said.