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Daily Record
Daily Record
World
Claire Galloway

Huge tree crushes home while family are inside as its uprooted by Storm Eunice

A huge tree came crashing down on a family home after it was uprooted by Storm Eunice.

The 400-year-old oak tree destroyed part of the home in Essex while family members were inside on Friday morning

Dominic Good, 57, had been in the middle of a work conference call when he heard the "almighty crash".

The sound was the tree crashing through the roof of the family's detached house in Stondon Massey, north of Brentwood.

Mr Good said his wife Emma, his 23-year-old son Sven and his son's girlfriend Anna Parnanen had all been in different rooms of the house working when the incident happened.

The family were inside when the tree crashed into the house (Nicholas.T.Ansell/PA Wire)

But the family had a miracle escape and the father-of-two has said they are "very lucky" no one was injured.

He said: "A big gust just snapped the base of the massive oak tree in our garden, that is probably around 400 years old.

"The whole tree fell on the north-west corner of the house and the roof took the brunt of it.

"The roof is pretty much destroyed, and my son's and my daughter's bedrooms are completely filled with rubble."

His son also had his Mazda MX5 car "completely crushed" by the branches of the toppled oak.

Mr Good said: "My son was in the room directly below (where the tree hit) so he actually witnessed it.

"He just grabbed his laptop and grabbed the dog and ran out of the room."

The family had predicted there could be some storm damage from the huge gusts of wind but "never expected" the destruction that would ensue.

"I was concerned that a branch might strike the house or something because it was it was incredibly strong wind, but that was something else," said Mr Good.

Storm Eunice wreaked havoc across the country (Nicholas.T.Ansell/PA Wire)

"We were very lucky that none of the dogs or the people that were in the house were affected in any way... other than just breathing in dust."

The family were able to spend the night in their home but are unsure as yet if this will be possible once the tree is removed.

Mr Good said: "We spent the rest of Friday trying to salvage stuff out of the rooms but everything is covered in dust and rubble and was just a general mess.

"I think probably once they remove the tree from the house they will have to knock down quite a large part of the house and rebuild it.

"We will just have to speak to the insurance company and take it from there."

At least four people have been killed in the UK and Ireland as a result of the storm, which is said to be one of the worst in decades.

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