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Strong Winds Blow Off Roof Of Latrobe Building

LATROBE (KDKA)- Strong winds whipped across the area Wednesday, leaving behind damage in parts of the area.

In Westmoreland County, they ripped part of the roof off of a building at a car dealership.

High winds roared into the area in the mid-morning hours, and Arnold Palmer Motors took a beating when the gusts bore down on Latrobe.

"I got a call, I guess at 8:30 this morning, we lost half of our detail shop due to high winds," said Ron Paluzzi, the general manager of the dealership. "Peeled open like a can opener, and we had some cars that were damaged as a result."

Surveillance video shows the roof being ripped and torn apart and cast aside like the debris and scraps it became.

"We had some employees in the building, and they can attest to that by the noise that they heard. They told me it sounded like a freight train coming through; and as you can see in the video, everybody poured out of the building pretty abruptly," said Paluzzi.

"The velocity of the roof traveled along the ground at such a great speed… with the 2x4's and all, it's completely under three of the vehicles," he said. You have to see the picture to believe it, pretty amazing."

Meanwhile, in Connellsville, the winds tore down a brick wall.

Lisa Smith was one of many who came to see the apartment building on South Pittsburgh Avenue. The of which now is nothing more than a pile of timber, debris and brick, not so neatly arranged by nature's power.

"This is just crazy. I can't believe it," said Smith. "Amazing."

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