‘We heard this almighty noise and we ran’
BATTERY Point homeowners Denise Shukri and Jade Gilmore were woken by the storm about 5am on Tuesday.
“Our little one came in and said ‘There’s thunder, I’m scared!’,” Ms Shukri said.
“And then whoosh, we heard this almighty noise and we ran out of there.
“We heard a terrible crash as well, and that was the chimney coming down.”
The couple said they didn’t realise the full extent of the damage when it was dark.
“My initial thought was the chimney had fallen on to the car but it was the roof being pulled back like a can of sardines,” Ms Gilmore said.
“It ended up in the yards of four different houses in the neighbourhood.
“It’s a sheet of Colorbond that’s been pulled back, exposing the shingles from the heritage building.”
The couple had been restoring the property for several years. The damage done to the heritage listed home is still being assessed.
“It’s heartbreaking. We’ve invested quite a bit of time and effort and money restoring it from the inside out,” Ms Gilmore said.
SES Hobart operations manager Alex Kendall said the loose roof sections caused minor damage to surrounding properties.