INDIANAPOLIS -- Some homeowners on Indianapolis' east side are dealing with substantial damage to their homes after a tornado tore a 2.5-mile swath through neighborhoods Friday.

Shattered glass, roof material and trees littered the streets between 42nd and 38th streets in eastern Marion County.

James Twitty and his wife, concerned about a storm whipping close to their home, were checking weather reports on television just before 10:30 p.m. Friday, but they had no idea how close damaging winds were, 6News' Cheryl Jackson reported.

"When the window blew in, it knocked our curtain off all the way into the kitchen, hit my wife in the back and knocked her down," Twitty said.

Twitty and his wife cowered in their bathroom while winds of up to 125 mph smacked their house on all sides.

"We just held each other and waited on it to end," Twitty said.

When Twitty emerged from his battered home, he found that both of his cars had been smashed. He said his family will need all the help it can get to put back together what Mother Nature wrought.

"It was ugly last night. I actually hyperventilated and threw up," said resident Jamie Girdler. "Today ... it has actually gotten worse."

Building inspectors made their way through battered neighborhoods on Saturday, putting signs on homes marking structures as unsafe.

"This is not a high-money neighborhood, but this is all we have -- our homes," Girdler said.

Cleaning up the mess left behind in just minutes is likely to take several weeks, if not longer.