'It Sounded Like Bombs' | Amazon Employee Describes Building Collapse
BALTIMORE, Md. (WJZ) -- Dhazyah McCoy was on the verge of finishing her shift at the Amazon Distribution Center when the weather took an expected and violent turn.
"I just heard a lot of banging over top of our heads but we thought it was rain but when I looked back and I seen the wall collapse that's when I knew it wasn't just rain it had to be something else I'm not sure what it was but I was just hoping everybody got out safe," McCoy said.
'Severe' Weather Could Be Factor In Fatal Amazon Building Collapse
She estimates there were about 200 to 300 workers inside when the 50-foot wall collapsed late Friday night.
"At first it sounded like airplanes then it sounded like bombs," she said. " I'm not sure it was just this big old noises boom boom boom just over and over and over again and that's when everybody started to panic."
While some ran out of the building, she and others gathered in a safe place to ride out the storm.
A space she says is part of Amazon safety protocol.
"We do have a place where we go just in case a storm happens or severe like that and we did gather up in that place and a lot of people knew to go up in that place," McCoy said.
2 Dead In 'Partial' Building Collapse At Baltimore Amazon Complex
It was only after that she took these photos.
Bewildered by the aftermath.
"I don't know what it was. I was just trying to get to safety that's all i know, i said to myself as long as everybody gets out safe, like i'm cool," she added.
She said she doesn't know the two victims that died as result of the wall collapse, but extends her condolences to their families.
Grateful that more lives were not lost.
"I was so in disbelief I couldn't believe, I was like 'oh my goodness' I was so happy that i survived, like 'oh my goodness' it was crazy it was really crazy," McCoy said.
The National Weather Service confirmed Saturday that a EF-1 tornado touched down along the Baltimore city-county line.
EF-1 Tornado Caused Damage In Maryland, Reaching Peak Of 105 MPH
According to the NWS, a tornado touched down in Baltimore City at 9:42 p.m. causing the damage.
Initial damage was to a tractor-trailer, which was blown over on I-95 just north Fort McHenry tunnel, and a fence line that was blown over on South Newkirk street.
The tornado tracked east from there moving parallel to Hollabird Avenue.
It blew in large garage doors on both sides of the Flexi-Van Leasing facility, according to the NWS.
The tornado then reached the Amazon facility, reaching a peak of 105 mph. It blew off the roof of the building, including iron rafters. An 8-inch concrete wall then collapsed into the building, killing two people.
The men killed in the Amazon building collapse Friday were identified as 54-year-old Andrew Lindsay and Israel Espana Argote. No age was provide for Argote.
About a dozen tractor-trailers were pushed over, moved or rolled by the wind and several car windows were blown out.
Then the tornado continued eat along the south side of Hollabird Avenue, uprooting large trees and snapping dozens of large tree branches.
A Baltimore City firefighter saw the swirling debris and the funnel cloud as it passed.
The tornado lifted as it reached Dundalk Avenue.
NW said the tornado briefly touched down again at the Hollabird East Apartments on 4 Georges Court in Dundalk, pulling off part of its roof.
The damage displaced residents.
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