By Parker McKenzie
A Kalorama family had a dangerously close call when a large tree fell onto their house, causing extensive damage to the home but fortunately no injuries to the three people inside.
Roxanne Peterson said disaster struck at 2.30pm on Sunday 14 November when she was home with her two sons aged seven and four.
“It was raining at the time and we had some hail in the morning but it wasn’t overly wind,” she said.
“I was in the lounge room at the time and I heard this sudden and intense gust of wind, it actually made me pause the TV and 15 seconds later I heard a huge crash down near our bedroom where my seven year old was.”
Her husband left the house minutes before the tree fell through the roof.
Mrs Peterson said she ran to check on her son who she could hear “screaming he couldn’t breathe”, but the door was blocked by a tree.
“I had to go outside and climb over the fallen limbs to get to him, thankfully when I reached him he only had a large piece of ceiling plaster on him and he came out without a scratch,”
“The house is uninhabitable and we have been told by SES not to return. We have been taken in by some friends in Kallista.”
She believes it will be at least six months before her home is habitable again after recently repairing the house from damage caused by a previous storm.
“We were actually hit hard in June and only just had the damage fixed from that storm three weeks ago,” she said.
“Some of our neighbours from the street behind us quickly came to our rescue.”
Mrs Peterson said her insurer is looking for permanent accommodation for the family while the damage is being accessed.
