A mother and four children are homeless after their ceiling collapsed on a rainy and windy night.
During the wild weather on Thursday, the ceiling of Dawn Paterson’s home in Tapping caved in.
“It was very heavy, very windy,” she said.
The home was buried beneath rubble, leaving it uninhabitable for the single mother and her four children.
“I just couldn’t believe the damage, I’m in shock,” she said.
“It looked like an earthquake had hit and honestly I didn’t know what to do. At 4am, who do you call?”
Paterson said she was confused why her ceiling gave way as a structural report found no issues when she purchased the 2006 home three years ago.
“There wasn’t any indication or warning signs that this would happen,” she said.
Paterson has yet to find out whether the damage is covered by her insurance and is finding another place to stay in the meantime.
With a big clean-up task ahead, she was just grateful no one was hurt.
The ceiling had collapsed over the dining room table where her four young children were having dinner just hours earlier.
“I would urge people to really have a good look at their ceilings to make sure they are intact and safe,” Paterson said.
“Safety is priority when you have children and I thought we were.”
