Revere Residents Surprised By Tornado
REVERE (CBS) – A tornado touched down in Revere Monday morning causing extensive damage. Trees were uprooted and roofs were blown off of houses.
Dan Catle was inside a home on Revere Beach Parkway when the roof was torn off. "The winds pretty much just picked up out of nowhere," Catle said. "It just kind of went crazy the winds were just all over the place."
Catle said he heard the cracking of branches and trees from inside the home but had no idea it was a tornado. "It came just as fast as it left," he said. "It was done and over in less than five minutes."
Toufik Oubarra was sitting inside a small booth outside a Revere gas station when the storm hit. He got out just before the booth smashed into the garage about 40 feet from its original perch at the gas pumps.
WBZ-TV's Jim Smith reports
"Thank God, I wouldn't be here," Oubarra told WBZ-TV
The roof blew off the garage of the gas station and landed on the lot full of cars.
Gallery: Storm Damage
No serious injuries have been reported. Revere police are asking people to avoid the city until further notice. A tornado warning was issued Monday morning by the National Weather Service for parts of Essex County and lifted shortly after 10 a.m.
WBZ-TV's Jonathan Elias reports
Victoria Olsen is still in shock about what she went through inside Master Auto. "It was just like my whole life flashed before my eyes," she told WBZ NewsRadio. "Glass was flying everywhere, picture frames were flying at me. It sounded like a huge freight train coming in."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports
Patty Carrabes says the tornado tore the roof off her house while she was at work.
"My husband called me at work and said you need to come home, the house is gone," Carrabes told WBZ-TV. "We thought the dog was gone because the roof caved in on him but my brother went upstairs and he came running out and he brought him down."
Carrabes says she has nothing left, but is thankful her dog and sister-in-law were not injured.
"I never expected this to happen here," Joel Miranda, a homeowner on Revere Beach Parkway said. "You see people suffering and I just hope that us and all of our neighbors can come together and help each other out as we all rebuild."
WBZ-TV's Paul Burton reports
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