Pregnant woman rides out tornado inside Skateworld in Deer Park

DEER PARK, Texas — Tuesday marks one week since a devastating EF-3 tornado tore through Pasadena and Deer Park.

The recovery efforts are only beginning for many and it will be a long road for some families that lost just about everything.

At Skateworld in Deer Park, work is underway to help repair one of the city’s most beloved businesses.

“If it would have happened on a Saturday it would have been bad, very bad,” owner Jay Malone said.

On Tuesday, a tornado wiped out brick walls and ripped off the roof.

“It’s a cinder block wall that was 14 feet tall and 180 feet long and it’s just gone,” Malone said.

The roller rink is usually packed with kids and families. But that day, manager Natalee Garrett was on her own, sort of.

“Those mirror balls sucked in and then came back down,” Garrett said.

As the winds picked up and the roof began to peel back, her motherly instinct kicked in and she did everything she could to protect her 7-month pregnancy. The first thing she did was she huddled inside the DJ booth.

“I just ducked down, put my hood up, wrapped my hands around my stomach and stayed in the corner,” Garrett said. “I was just screaming bloody murder.”

It lasted less than a couple of minutes but the terror was enough to start contractions.

“He’s always going to be known for going through a tornado,” Garrett said.

Her son, Cody, is safe and is not due for a few more weeks. In the meantime, it’s all hands on deck.

“The bones are there,” Malone said about his business.

Everyone doing whatever they can to help Skateworld bounce back, so half a century of memories aren’t ripped away.

“We’ll build it back better,” Malone said. “If I didn’t rebuild this place, there’d be some mad people. It’s going to be the place to be.”