LEETON shire resident Karen Gready has described winds that caused extensive damage to her Brobenah Road property as a “mini cyclone”.
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Last Friday evening most Leeton residents would have experienced a heavy downpour of rain about 6.30pm.
However, the Gready family also encountered a strong “cyclone-like” wind that tore the roof off in places, flung tin in nearby paddocks and resulted in battens being uprooted and speered down eight inches into the ground.
Mrs Gready said it had been a scary experience for her family.
“My youngest daughter and I were at the supermarket, while my husband and eldest daughter were at home when it happened,” she said.
“My daughter was just about to go outside and move the horses … she was putting on her jumper. If she had of gotten out there she would have walked right into it, which is scary to think about.
“It’s came from the direction of Grigg Road, through one of our fences and virtually tore some trees in half.
“There were branches laying everywhere.
“Thankfully the horses were okay as well.”
The ferocity of the wind lasted moments, but caused significant damage that resulted in the family calling on the Leeton State Emergency Service (SES) for help.
“The SES arrived about 10 minutes after I called, which was just fantastic,” Mrs Gready said.
“They had to wait for Essential Energy to turn the power off … we’re still running on generators.
“After they were able to get on site they were working away getting the tarp on the roof and were just great.
“It made it easier for us when we were having to deal with it all.”
Mrs Gready and her family spent the weekend cleaning up, as well as organising insurance.
An assessor visited the home earlier this week.
Leeton SES controller Bud Morris said a property on Grigg Road was also damaged by the strong winds.
“There was a lady there that had damage to her roof as well … she only discovered it at midnight when she got home from work,” he said.
“Our guys were out until probably about 2am.
“It was amazing the amount of damage that was caused.
“Our volunteers did a great job as they always do.”
The SES is on the hunt for new volunteers to help ligjten the load when jobs are called in.
“We get a lot of former VRA members come to us when they’ve decided they’ve seen enough through what those guys do,” Mr Morris said.
“It would be great to have a few more that’s for sure.”
For more information about the SES contact Mr Morris on 0429 659 252.
