CHICAGO — As a summer storm barrelled through Chicago Friday evening, a woman was severely injured when the roof of a Wicker Park building collapsed, fire officials said.
The woman was sitting on a couch in a building in the 1100 block of North Ashland Avenue when the roof collapsed around 7 p.m., fire officials said.
One man who was in the building at the time described the scene as "total devastation."
Drew Williams, 28, lives on the first floor of the affected building. Williams said the building directly to the north is currently under construction, and that a pile of cinder blocks on its roof was blown onto his building during the storm.
Williams said he heard loud noises that he first thought was thunder during but said he soon realized it was something more "catastrophic."
"And then I heard a knock at my back door and my upstairs neighbor asked if I could help someone get to the hospital," Williams said.
He said the neighbor lived on the third floor had a woman in his apartment who was hurt when the roof collapsed.
Williams said he and his neighbor had to move wooden beams and cinder blocks to clear a pathway for the woman. He said when fire officials arrived the woman had cuts and was "visibly in shock" but coherent.
"She was conscious and responsive," Williams said. "We were asking if she was okay, she said that she needed a doctor."
The was taken in serious-to-critical condition to Stroger Hospital, fire officials said.
During the storm, winds reached an estimated speed of 60 to 70 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
Williams said his apartment was unaffected by the accident but said fire officials told residents they would need to evacuate the building.
