Residents of the 7th Street apartment building that lost most of its shingles in a windstorm Tuesday night may be able to return home within weeks.

"It's not near as bad as everybody thinks it is," Tony Stroeder, property manager of Eastview Manor, said of the damage.

The wind, gusting to 94 kilometers per hour, got underneath the styrofoam glued to the plywood and peeled it off into the back alley, Stroeder said.

The 39-year-old building was evacuated and within three hours people living in the 12 units had found housing in hotel rooms or with family or neighbours, he said.

Stroeder doesn't yet know when they'll be able to return but it will likely be a couple weeks, he said.

He'll know better on Friday how big a repair job the roof will be.

"Stuff happens. It happens, now we've got to fix it."