CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) -19 News obtained video of a roof blown off at a local auto repair shop as storms swept through the area around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 6.

One person was inside the McMahan’s Auto Sales building on West 65th.

Allen Covington was standing at his toolbox talking on the phone with his son’s mother when the roof blew up.

“I looked out the door. A wave came in, the wind. It kind of looked like an explosion wave, a bomb,” Covington said.

Metal was flying everywhere. Covington says he hit the ground.

“I was trying to get under my toolbox and the wall landed on my leg. The connection to my cell phone was lost. I saw the roof turn and land on me,” he said. “It landed on my hip, up to my ankle, and I was trapped under it.”

As he tried to free himself from the rubble, all he could think about was his 12-year-old son.

“He and his mother were the only things on my mind. I had to get out there to make sure I could pay the bills and that I would be there for him when he got married,” Covington said.

Covington was taken to Metro Health. He has bruising and scarring on his leg, but that’s nothing compared to what could have happened.

“I was lucky, I was really lucky considering what we saw afterward. When I came back the next day, I saw a pile of bricks, hammers and nails in front of my toolbox. It could have been a lot worse,” he said. “I’ve been in four car accidents before, but this was nothing like this one where I really thought I wasn’t going to get out of it.”

The owner of McMahan’s says he needs to build a new store for his employees. The current building will be demolished.

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