Tenants Returned to Building Where Roof Blew Off During Storm

Rich Ryser took a handsaw to a piece of black building material Thursday afternoon in front of the apartment building he owns on Jefferson Avenue.

“Hopefully it will all be cleared by tomorrow,” Ryser said about the wood, siding and other debris piled in front of his apartment building. “Then we’ll put a tarp up today.”

While most of the work to put Orland Park back to normal was complete by Thursday afternoon, Ryser still had much to do. The roof on his apartment building at 14435 and 14439 Jefferson Avenue was torn off by winds gusting around 60 mph around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night, during a severe storm that left between 20 inches of .

The pitched roof that was torn off landed on the west side of the building and on Jefferson Avenue. Underneath it is another roof, lying flat on top of the building, Ryser said.

No one was injured by the damage. Five building tenants made their way to the Orland Park Police Department Tuesday night to contact friends who put them up for the night, according a police report.

“Everyone came back the next day,” Ryser said. “The building inspector came out and said it was ok for people to come back.”

Ryser said workers are expected to remove the rest of the debris Friday.