By Shelby Brooks
A tree has smashed through the home of Emerald’s SES controller as the state experiences a morning of wild weather.
Ben Owen had only left his home 10 minutes before a pine tree fell on his family’s home in Cockatoo around 6.30am Friday 29 October.
Ben’s wife and daughters were trapped inside but are fortunately ok.
“The tree landed where I was standing 10 minutes earlier,” Ben told The Gazette.
“My wife called to say a tree had fallen on the house. She was trapped in the bedroom.
“I drove back and ran down to where my daughters were bunkered in together for the night and they had a smashed window. So they and the greyhound crawled through the window and into my arms.”
The other family greyhound received minor injuries to her legs and is being treated by a vet.
The Owen’s had planned to leave for a camping trip for the long weekend, so Ben was able to grab their suitcases before taking refuge at his in-laws place.
Ben said the damage to his house was significant and they would need to rebuild.
“It’s a huge pine tree. You give up guessing which tree is going to go down next,” he said.
“It was there when we bought the house so we were aware of the risks and we hoped it would never fall over.”
Ben’s SES unit volunteers and local CFA attended the scene this morning.
“At some stage I’ll touch base with them again and get them to come out in their PPE and go through the bedrooms and see if they can salvage any jewelry and cuddly toys for the girls,” Ben said.
