Giant pieces of roof flew everywhere as Rick Ciecka made a delivery to The Beer Hut in Northeast Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon.
Rick didn't know yet that it was a twister, but his instincts kicked in and he dove into his truck for cover.
"It started rocking back and forth and I looked up and saw the cloud spinning and pulling and the roof was gone!"
Witnesses saw the huge cloud descend on the 9800 block of Northeast Avenue.
"It just got black, real dark," said witness Rick Vangas. "Next thing you know big sound -- boom!"
It all happened in a matter of seconds -- the funnel cloud was grounded for just 300 feet, according to officials.
"I was in the back bedroom and the windows blew in and I saw the roof fly off," said James Price.
It was the second time in mere months that Price, who escaped a house fire earlier this year, escaped tragedy.
The National Weather Service confirmed that it was an EF-0 tornado that hit for about six seconds. That's the weakest on the scale, with winds 65 to 85 miles per hour -- strong enough to blow Jim Razler through the garage bay at R & R Car Repair, where the most damage was done.
"The next thing I know, there's debris falling all over me and I was covered and my wife's gonna take me to the hospital now," Razler said.
It's the first tornado in Philadelphia since 1999. And we've only had seven others in the city since 1950. For Rick C., Rick V., Jim and James, it was 30 seconds of pure terror, that seemed to last forever.
"I just want to get home, and go have a beer," Ciecka said.
Fan, follow and download: Get the latest from NBCPhiladelphia.com anytime, anywhere. Follow NBC10 Earthwatch on Facebook. Sign up for our weather newsletter. And, get weather forecasts delivered right to your mobile phone -- just text PHIWEATHER to 639710 to sign up. (Message and data rates may apply.)
