WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. -- The people of West Yellowstone are picking up the pieces of debris after some wild winds whipped through town Saturday afternoon.

Those that spoke with Local News 8 said they saw very strong winds moving in a circular motion, but no one confirmed seeing a funnel cloud and the National Weather Service is investigating.

Looking around town, however, one would think it was a tornado. The winds ripped off the roofs of hotels, knocked trees onto houses, impaled cars with debris, and wrapped sheets of metal.

Those in town said it was a scary sight.

"I could see a bunch of debris floating the air and I could see it swirling," eyewitness to the storm Shane McFall said.

The Best Western Westin Inn’s entire roof was blown right off the rest of the building.

Dee Templeton and Cheryl Brown watched it all happen from their room across the parking lot.

"We heard this burst of wind, we looked out our window and the roof was leaving the building, it just picked the whole roof up and went over,” said Dee Templeton. “We went ‘Oh my gosh!’ and we then ran to the stairwell."

The maintenance manager for the Best Western Westin Inn, James Mason, said he was in his office when it all happened and couldn't even get out the front door.

"We have a lot of large clean up, but folks started coming down to help out,” Mason said.

When folks like Pam Talasco saw what happened they started joining in.

"This is a town that has a lot of businesses, and we need to get it fixed as fast as we can," Talasco said.

While no one in town was seriously hurt during the storm, hotel managers said they were shocked to see the damages.

"I didn't see the whole thing happen. All I know is that I have a lot of devastation-- roofs gone, buildings totally devastated,” said general manager of Yellowstone Park Inn & Suites Tina Creson.

With Labor Day weekend fast approaching, Creson said she worries she won't be able to accommodate all her reservations.

"I have 20 rooms that I can't rent. I’ve got a restaurant and a bar in my facility that cannot open until the building inspectors come and look and tell us that we can reopen,” Creson said.

Building inspectors will be assessing the damages on Monday morning to determine if the hotels damaged in the storm are structurally sound.