Take a bough! Eleanor brings house down
SHE sneaked up on us a lot more stealthily than her predecessor, Ophelia.
But Storm Eleanor certainly made her mark on Tuesday when Mary Dardis’s home in Navan, Co. Meath was in the middle of her blustery rampage.
Ms Dardis had a lucky escape after her gate house cottage was almost destroyed by trees felled by Eleanor.
They also badly damaged her parked car.
The mother had been watching TV in her sitting-room when the storm suddenly struck her cottage in Old Johnstown at around 7.45pm.
‘I heard an almighty bang and a huge crack,’ she said.
‘I ran into my room and lay at the side of my bed for about 20 minutes before I mustered up the courage to go back to the lounge and get my phone to ring my family. ‘Two trees had landed on my house from either side, blocking the front and back doors so I was locked inside.
‘I could see the ceiling bulging from the weight of the trees but thankfully, my landlord and my ex-husband Michael rushed to my rescue and removed the tree parts from the front door so I could get out.
‘The trees were enormous and the weighty boughs and branches also slammed into my car outside. It’s gone to the garage, so I’m not sure the extent of the damage there yet.’
Ms Dardis spent the night with her daughter, Melissa before returning to the house the following day to view the damage, which got even worse when the roof collapsed on Thursday night under the weight of the trees.
‘I was devastated. Most of my home is destroyed as well as a lot of my belongings, including very sentimental items,’ she said.
However, although very shaken from the incident, Mary says she is still positive and realises that things could have been much worse. She said: ‘I’m heartbroken to see my home gone, but I wasn’t injured at all, thankfully.
‘The insurance will sort things and the car can be fixed. Everyone was told to batten down the hatches for Storm Ophelia and no-one really said anything about Storm Eleanor, which I thought was much worse.’