Co Tyrone woman describes terrifying moment Storm Éowyn ripped roof from family home
A Co Tyrone woman whose family home was "wrecked" by Storm Éowyn has described how she was "petrified" as the high winds ripped the roof off her house.
Tracy McMahon, a 36-year-old from Derrytresk, was at home with her husband and pet dogs at around 4am when she was awoken by a terrifying, "thudding" noise as the roof began to come off.
She told Belfast Live how she and her husband were forced to gather in the kitchen with torches, in pitch black darkness, waiting for the storm to pass.
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Sadly, the house where she grew up and shared with husband Tam for the past five years has now been "wrecked" by the storm.
The couple, unfortunately, had failed to renew their house insurance so are now looking at a steep bill before they can move back in. And with Storm Herminia now on the way, they've been grateful for the help of neighbours and work colleagues arriving to help stabilise what's left of the roof and gable wall before another round of strong wind hits.
The family has also sought help to, quite literally, get a roof back over their heads through an online fundraiser that had received over £6,000 in donations at the time of writing
"It was about half four in the morning when we could hear the thudding," Tracy said. "It was just me and my husband and I suppose the dogs. I have a wee house dog and then a big dog, but the big dog had pups there so we were keeping her in the house. She has five pups. The wee dog was scared but the big one seemed content enough."
She continued: "The first part of the roof came off about half four, that's the front part of the house above the bedrooms. We heard the thudding noise and we have an outside camera, so we could see the sheets coming down at the camera. It's a cladding roof. We knew at that point the roof was off.
"I couldn't see nothing. It was pitch black. We moved into another part of the house, into the kitchen, and we were just waiting it out.
"We switched the power off so we were sitting with the torch going. We had to wait it out because, obviously, we wouldn't even see in the dark if something was going to come flying at you. The kitchen is at the back of the house, but then the roof came off that side of the house at about half six.
"We just had to continue sitting it out. We were just sitting there. I was petrified. I would be a very nervous person. My husband wasn't as bad, he would be very laid back."
Tracy's brother, who lives nearby, could see the damage to the house from a distance away and arrived to take the pair to safety.
"He came down to get us in the van," Tracy said. "The back door to the house was blocked off. We got out the front of the house but we had to hold the spouting and all off because everything was just hanging down, blocking the front door. We lived in that house for about five years but it's actually my home house, it's where I grew up."
The full extent of the damage is not yet known, but Tracy said the electrics, plumbing and ceilings have all suffered severe damage, with "structural damage" also likely.
"The house is wrecked," she added. "We've got most of the house emptied now and we've been able to save some of it, but most if it has to be dumped. There's a lot of water damage because the pipes were actually burst where some of the timbers come down on top of the pipes, and that's caused a lot of damage."
She added: "We need all the help we can get."
The fundraiser can be found on GoFundMe by clicking this link.
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