People across the island of Newfoundland are cleaning up after tropical storm Leslie screamed through the area Tuesday.

Wind gusts of more than130 kilometres an hour left a path of destruction on the Avalon Peninsula — uprooting trees, toppling power lines and ripping apart some buildings.

The Pearl Gate apartment complex in Mount Pearl was one of the hardest hit. Most of the roof was blown off, damaging cars parked below.

Craig Hogan feels lucky to be alive after nearly being hit by debris during Leslie's winds. (CBC)

"We just heard the bang,” said resident Craig Hogan, who had a close brush with the dangerous winds. “My wife was just standing on the step and she told me to start running.”

“It just missed me by inches," said Hogan, surveying a massive pile of debris that used to be part of the building’s roof.

Neighbour Brenda Penney lost two vehicles that were hit by chunks of the roof.

"I heard a bang and the roof just came down right on the step. The cars were totalled, windows busted," said Penney as she watched her next-door neighbour tape plastic over the smashed-out windows of his vehicle.

"It was bad, it was really bad."

For Penney, the next step will involve a lot of calls to her insurance company.

With 78 units in the apartment complex, the property's owner says it could have been worse.

"Our understanding this morning is that only two people ended up leaving the building,” said Martek CEO Charlie Oliver.

He said the roof should be completely repaired in the next few days.

“Overall, the impact was more of inconvenience and not of relocation,” said Oliver.

Hogan agrees residents dodged a bullet.

"Luckily, I'm just glad to be here,” he said.