DeKALB – About a dozen students were relocated from their homes Wednesday after high winds blew off the roof of an apartment building in the 900 block of Greenbrier Road.

The DeKalb Fire Department was called about 4:20 p.m. to 916 Greenbrier Road for a report of a roof that had blown off a two-story apartment building. Authorities evacuated tenants from the building, said Jim Zarek, DeKalb fire battalion chief.

There were no injuries reported, authorities said.

Brian Evans, an American Family Insurance agent who was on scene, said the whole rubber membrane of the roof peeled back from a wind gust. The concrete building still had a layer of material on top, he said.

Ray Depedro, a 27-year-old who attends Kishwaukee College, said he was studying on the top floor of the building when the roof was lifted off.

"It sounded like people were banging on the roof," he said.

About 80 percent of the roof was blown off, Zarek said, and firefighters worked to remove the remaining 20 percent that still was attached to the building. ComEd arrived to turn off power because part of the roof landed on a power line on the south side of the complex.

"The high winds took a big toll on the building," Zarek said.

Gilbert Sebenste, Northern Illinois University meteorologist, said winds were blowing about 40 mph at the time the roof blew off. Earlier in the day, wind gusts were up to 50 mph on NIU's campus, but he said 40 mph wind gusts normally don't do that kind of damage.

"The roof must have been weakened by two days of wind," Sebenste said.

About a dozen tenants live in the apartment complex, which has 14 studio-style rooms, landlord Pat Bragg said. There was no interior damage to the building.

"I'm so grateful nobody was injured," Bragg said.

Bragg said she installed a new roof when she bought and renovated the building in 2006. She said the building currently has no electricity, and the roof needs to be replaced before tenants can live there again.

Roofing contractor Gary Tadd, who was on scene Wednesday, estimated the cost of the damage was between $45,000 and $50,000. He said Pinkston-Tadd Roofing Services would work through the night to remove the remaining roof attached to the building.

Tadd said his company planned to begin work on a new roof today, and it would take a few days to complete.

"I don't understand how it completely peeled off," said NIU student Adrian Mascote, 19, who lives on the first floor of the building.

"It's pretty scary," said Kishwaukee College student Jessica Pena, 19.

She and Mascote weren't home at the time.

"We can't stay here, that's all I know," Mascote said.

NIU offered to provide housing to the occupants overnight. NIU spokesman Brad Hoey said students will be able to spend the night at Neptune Hall at NIU until the roof is replaced.