XRchic's parent's house squashed by tree

XRchic · 06-07-2007, 07:48 PM

Hi all

Eamon and I havent been around for a little while on the forums as we have been a little occupied. Ive had a bunch of PMs and emails asking where we have been as we pretty much disappeared for the last week! LOL.

Well firstly our computer was pretty stuffed for a week and we had it fixed. Got it back today. We have no internet at work either, so we just could not get online. All good now though.

And secondly, a tree fell on my parents house in the storms that we had here last Wed night. They had a 30m Tasmanian Gum Tree out the front and it broke in half and fell on the house about 10pm that night. They heard it crack and saw it falling and ran. No one was injured. But the house is pretty bad and it fell on the neighbours house too and took a bit of that down, as well as landing on their car which is a write-off.

Inurance is covering it all and they have been fantastic. Mum and Dad are in temporary accomodation at the moment but SGIC are finding them some fully furnished rental accommdation very soon, which they will be in for a good few months.

The engineers etc have been up to examine the house and it will be rebuilt but only just. It will take about 5 months they think. The hot water service was in the roof and that fell through, so half the house was soaked in hot water too. But the roof is open to the weather so everything got wet anyway.

Anyways, we have been busy helping them out lately, with getting some of their stuff out, and helping them shop for new stuff and just getting stuff sorted. Dad busted his ribs recently so he has been struggling a bit.

Things are nearly all sorted, thanks to the insurance company being onto all of it really quickly, they are even paying for a cattery for Mum's cats to board in indefinitely until the house is fixed.

The news crews have all been up there and it was all on the news. Apparently everyone was interviewed but I didnt see them. There was an article in the Advertiser today too. Here is an article that I was sent today, and a pic they took in daylight after the SES crew had left:

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...48-910,00.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by article

SOUTH Australians are mopping up after fierce winds up to 120km/h and heavy rain overnight downed trees, damaged homes and caused thousands of blackouts.

An intense low pressure system off Kangaroo Island yesterday lashed Adelaide and many coastal areas with high winds and threatened low-lying coastal areas in the western suburbs with a storm surge as high tide arrived late in the day.

Power was cut to about 20,000 homes, and many householders were still without power this morning.

State Emergency Service spokeswoman Judith Bleechmore said the SES had received about 260 calls for assistance from 1pm to 11pm, mostly for fallen trees, wind and minor flooding damage to property.

The worst incident reported was at Glenalta, in the Adelaide Hills, about 9.30pm, when a 30m high gum tree “literally cut in half” one house while severely damaging another. No one was injured.

Bob and Lyn Williams were forced to find alternative accommodation last night after the tree demolished their Kurrawong Ave double brick house, causing more than $100,000 damage.

Neighbour Andrew Grear had his four-month old Mitsubishi Magna 380 written off and his house severely damaged by the tree, causing about $50,000 damage.

“It took the car out and punched holes in the roof,”‘ Mr Grear said.

The SES worked to repair Mr Grear’s property until about 2.30am but workers are expected to remove the main trunk of the tree from the Williams’ property later today with heavy machinery.

The SES also reported damage to five metropolitan jetties including Semaphore, Henley, Grange, Largs Bay and Port Noarlunga. They were waiting until daylight to fully assess the damage.

The Bureau of Meteorology lifted the severe weather warning for South Australia about 4am, but warned strong winds were likely to affect the Wimmera and Mallee regions of Victoria today.

SES state duty controller Richard Coombe said two houses – one at Birkenhead, near Port Adelaide and another at Middle Beach – were damaged as the storm surge rushed inland yesterday.

Dozens of workers filled sandbags to protect beachfront properties in the western suburbs from the storm surge.

Metropolitan and Country Fire Service firefighters and council workers joined SES volunteers to fill sandbags at St Kilda, Port Adelaide, Birkenhead, Port Noarlunga and Glenelg South, where flooding reached up to 1m.

Sea water swept into parts of Glenelg but no property damage was reported.

The Birkenhead Tavern was again surrounded by water and several main roads, including the Birkenhead Bridge and Commercial Rd near Port Noarlunga, were closed.

“The storm surge had a significant impact on resources but it didn’t have a significant impact on properties,” Mr Coombe said.

Mr Coombe said this morning that the worst appeared to be over for South Australia.

“The worst is over. Unfortunately our colleagues in Victoria will be probably be getting the brunt of it today,” Mr Coombe told the Seven Network.

The bureau said in a bulletin early today that strong to gale force west to southwesterly winds with gusts to 95 km/h were expected over the Mallee and Wimmera and possibly the Northern Country this morning.

Here are some pics that were taken for insurance, apologies for the very dodgy pic quality, I was doing it while doing a bunch of other stuff a couple of hours after it happened:

Here is the front:

The tree:

Inside:

Kitchen ceiling:

Front hallway:

Passage:

Through the roof:

Out the back:

The tree has apparently been removed just now and is all gone... so the repairs are underway I think....

So, yes we have been a little busy! Moral of the story is to make sure your house has full house and contents insurance!!!!

Jac and Eamon

Duke · 06-07-2007, 08:01 PM

thoughts are with you Jac.

**Falcon Coupe** · 06-07-2007, 08:06 PM

What a mess, lucky no one was injured !

Paxton · 06-07-2007, 08:08 PM

Best of luck from the Paxtons. Just remind your parent's that they will be in a new house when the ordeal is over.

Andrew.

MoreHPformyXR6 · 06-07-2007, 08:13 PM

PM sent, but very glad no one was hurt & insurance is in place. Best Wishes.

3vXT · 06-07-2007, 08:23 PM

It made the news up here, i think i seen your neighbor interviewed. Glad no one was hurt, and goodluck with everything.

XRchic · 06-07-2007, 08:25 PM

Yeah thanks guys

Yes, they will have a whole lot of rennovations!

The funny thing with the tree was that my Dad's brother is professor of Horticultural Science in Uni of Qld and he was down a few months back and said that the tree was dying and nearly dead and needed to go before Winter. Apparently the Tasmanian Blue Gums only last 40 years or so.

Anyway, Dad went straight away and got a report from an aborisit and the report was submitted to council that it was dead, dangerous and needed to come out. Due to the size of it, it could not be removed without approval from the council, so Dad submittted the application months back, got quotes for removal ($5Kish) and just waited for the council. Anyway, Dad only rang them last week to see how the approval was going and they said that they were still processing it.... he was quite worried with it being Winter and all...

Dad said yesterday, joking, that at least he wont have to pay $5K for the removal of the thing! LOL.

MoreHPformyXR6 · 06-07-2007, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XRchic

Yeah thanks guys

Anyway, Dad went straight away and got a report from an aborisit and the report was submitted to council that it was dead, dangerous and needed to come out. Due to the size of it, it could not be removed without approval from the council, so Dad submittted the application months back, got quotes for removal ($5Kish) and just waited for the council. Anyway, Dad only rang them last week to see how the approval was going and they said that they were still processing it.... he was quite worried with it being Winter and all...

Is it just me or to submitt a report some months back to then contact them to see how its going & then be told its still being proccessed seem's a little unreasonable? (what the) If private enterprise was conducted in this manner there wouldnt be too many businesses that didnt go belly up IMHO.

XRchic · 06-07-2007, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoreHPformyXR6

Is it just me or to submitt a report some months back to then contact them to see how its going & then be told its still being proccessed seem's a little unreasonable? (what the) If private enterprise was conducted in this manner there wouldnt be too many businesses that didnt go belly up IMHO.

Yeah that is a point. However, the funny thing also is that my Dad is an engineer and he does a lot of work for various councils (not this one though, funnily enough). The problem is that in the public sector, its very under resourced. Guys in the approvals areas are doing the jobs of 3 people each and they usually have intrays of 100s of approvals with more coming in every day, and no one to help them. The councils do not often have enough money in the budget to pay for more staff to do them, and often the engineering and approvals departments get screwed at budget time anyway as most councils are not very proactive in those areas.

My Dad is the only engineer who works in his area who can do approvals of a certain kind, and he has literally 100s of applications and approvals to look at and he likes to be thorough and make the right decision the first time. However, it just takes time. He gets calls all day from clients abusing him, he works 12 hour days and most Saturdays and his in tray is still gets bigger. He pleads for help, and sometimes they loan him someone for another area for a bit, but they have to pay for them.

Dad went on leave for two weeks and came back to a massive mountain of work which no one had touched while he was on leave and he threw a spaz. They just said they can barely afford to pay him, let alone someone else....

Private sector is usually a lot better funded and money is spent building a business by putting money into developing and building staff... more staff means more money coming in, in the long term. This is not the case in the private sector - more staff do not generate a bigger budget...

donno · 06-07-2007, 09:31 PM

Remember seeing this story on the news, they must have been interviewing the neighbors because they said that their car was written off, and next door was pummeled. Unfortunately for your parents its a small world we live in. Best of luck with the repairs.

bigAl · 07-07-2007, 08:42 AM

HOly jebus

Thankfully no one was hurt.

Great news that your insurance company is doing its job. Good luck with the repairs

JG66ME · 07-07-2007, 12:19 PM

That is a mess. Thankfully your family is ok. Houses can be rebuilt, lives are harder. I hope nothing that has family sentimental significance that is ireplacable was destroyed.

Pass on my good wishes.

Steve

fiery · 07-07-2007, 06:00 PM

It is upsetting in a way when you see your house (parents) demolished but at least they are ok.

Best wishes to your parents Jac, hopefullly it will be a smooth quick fix up for your folks and not too stressful.

**Sorted** · 07-07-2007, 07:46 PM

Hope the insurance company takes on the council as the Government reams insurers with stupid legislation.

And Adding GST without removing the Stamp Duty

And increasing the Fire Service Levy which had a follow on effect of increasing the GST & Stamp Duty charges

And being sly dirty dogs with Taxes

Ok that feels better............

XRchic · 07-07-2007, 08:03 PM

Hey guys

We just got back and it looks like the initial estimates have been changed. Very likely the house will be demolished and rebuilt as the damage to the structure is almost total. Every room has serious structural damage, every wall. With contents, estimate damage around $400K, as revealed today when the tree was removed. Dad is quite happy to have a new house built.

The roof is open and it has been pouring with rain and the ceilings are filling up - we were in it today and the ceilings inside are bulging and nearly ready to drop with the weight, so we reckon in a day or two, it will all collapse if it keeps raining. Its a bit of a race against time to get everything out (just the most valuable stuff at this point) as we get drenched in each room with water dripping down from the insulation bats which are soaked and gross.... also with it being hard with no power, no lights and no water... but we are hoping the ceilings hold up for one more day!

Some pics post-tree removal and in daylight:

Front yard full of firewood!

Backyard:

Inside:

Bulging ceiling with water leaking through and quite a few holes (one of the better rooms):

Roof from the backyard:

SpoolMan · 07-07-2007, 09:06 PM

Gee the weather dosnt discriminate it effects everyone, good to see no one was hurt and they still have all the precocious belonging's..
best wishes to your Mum and Dad and look forward to seeing the new photos in the coming months...

**Bluehoon** · 07-07-2007, 10:13 PM

Jac, Glad your parents and family are ok.

Geez, that looks nasty. Will the house be repaired or rebuilt?

Best of luck, and hope everything goes as smooth as it can.

Cheers
Ben

rodderz · 07-07-2007, 10:26 PM

Geez they are lucky Jac

Tassie Blue Gums are very prone to doing this, they are the fastest growing gum which is why they are grown for pulp wood and probably why it snapped so severly at such a big size.

Even though they get a new house out of it, it's not good seeing years getting demolished when you're not expecting it

irsa76 · 07-07-2007, 10:43 PM

Thank god no one was hurt.
Now it looks like I might have another round of dramas with my council to remove the tree in the backyard, had major dramas getting rid of the willow tree in the front yard that involved threats of legal action and getting a federal order to remove the damm tree.

Cobra · 08-07-2007, 10:30 AM

After being there yesterday, all I can is OMG!! The pictures show the damage, but they really don't do justice to the magnitude of the damage. It's absolutely unbeleivable. I'm just so glad everyone was in the lounge and not anywhere else. If someone was walking through the corridoor they would not only have been squashed, but they would have been scaled by the hot water service in the roof as the tank burst open and relased scalding hot water all through the house.

Once again I'm just so thankful that everyone was in the lounge and not sleeping, having a shower, using the toilet or doing anything else anyone would be doing at home at 10:30pm. Jacs dad said to me that the noise was like nothing he had ever heard before. He described it as being absolutely deafening even after coving his ears throughout the ordeal. Apparantly it was heard in a 1 km radius of the house. This was seriously scary just visualising what happened, let alone actually being in the house when it did happen!

troppo · 08-07-2007, 02:08 PM

Bugger...that's a nasty mess. Glad to hear noone was hurt and that insurance is looking after it.

XRchic · 08-07-2007, 03:05 PM

Yeah the rain has held off here, so they managed to get most of the stuff out, just a bit more to do. Then they walk out and leave it.

They thought they were moving to a rental property in Torrens Park but now they are apparently going to Glen Osmond, which should be nice.

I think everyone is a bit tired though. Mum is pretty upset at losing all of the photo albums that go back literally decades...

Eb Barbie · 09-07-2007, 10:24 AM

Geesh it sure did make a mess!! Can't believe insurance is paying for the cattery too!! Sounds like your folks are being well looked after by insurance and yourselves. Hope things don't take too long and they can go back to normal soon enough

4.9 EF Futura · 09-07-2007, 10:31 AM

Wow!! First of all, glad to hear no one was injured and the insurer is coming to the party.

That storm was absolutely insane. Had actually been in barker having dinner at the Grey's Inn on wednesday and driving home on the freeway around 830pm was prob the worst conditions ive ever driven in.

sgt_doofey · 09-07-2007, 10:53 AM

I guess it's time to start looking on the bright side of things? No one got hurt, thankfully, and you have plenty of free firewood for the next couple of winters!

Bummer about the photos. My Mum has spent a lot of time scanning in all her old photos in to the computer to have a back up of them in case something happened to her house.

Good luck with the rest of the clean up and the rebuild. At least your parents have a new house to look forward to.

XRchic · 09-07-2007, 09:32 PM

Thanks guys. Yeah the storm was a bad one.

Update now. Maybe now they will rebuild it. It changes all the time, so who knows, will just wait and see I guess.

Today some chic reversed into my Dad in his new car at the shops and took off. Dad has busted ribs so he had trouble getting out of the car quick enough, and the chic who hit him had taken off. He had only seen her face through the rear vision mirror and he didnt even see what kind of car it was, other than being small and white. *so if anyone knows of a chic who drives a small, white car and who was in BigW car park on Cross Road today....*

So he just got back in his car and went home... so now it has the rear end pushed in and a few crinkles in the boot and rear bumper damaged.

The he got a call from my brother who was driving down Unley Road and some chic opened the door in front of him and he took her door off, as well as damaging the whole side of his car and taking his mirror off. She admitted to being at fault though...

Dad is a bit over insurance companies at the moment.

sgt_doofey · 09-07-2007, 10:46 PM

Not a good week for your family, is it! Might just want to wrap yourself up with bubble wrap to make sure nothing happens to you!
I guess that it can only get better from here on in.

XRchic · 09-07-2007, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

Not a good week for your family, is it! Might just want to wrap yourself up with bubble wrap to make sure nothing happens to you!
I guess that it can only get better from here on in.

Yeah Im waiting to hear if I got a promotion this week... Im betting on what the answer will be... :(

sgt_doofey · 09-07-2007, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XRchic

Yeah Im waiting to hear if I got a promotion this week... Im betting on what the answer will be... :(

Surely it must be good considering the run of bad luck you've had. It's got to change sooner or later, hopefully sooner.

XRchic · 10-07-2007, 12:19 AM

Id give up my promotion if I could swap it for cheering my Dad up though. He is the best Dad and didnt deserve any of this... :(

Ah everyone is still positive though, it will get sorted out and there is always someone worse off than ourselves.... Im sure there are much more miserable humans out there!!!