By JESSE GRAHAM
THE SUN has yet to come out for Lyndy Winter, whose home was extensively damaged by a falling tree during an intense storm last month.
Ms Winter awoke at midnight on Tuesday 9 September, to a tree coming through her roof and beams coming down only centimetres from where her son, Tom, was sleeping.
The tree, which also destroyed her front verandah, was made safe by CFA and SES crews in the middle of the night, but Ms Winter’s efforts to have the damage fixed screeched to a halt when she tried to get an insurance assessor out.
“This is the most stressful part of it,” she said at the time.
Six weeks on, and her verandah is still destroyed, her roof is still tarped and more parts of the house are becoming damaged, with works still to take place.
Ms Winter said the estimated cost for the rebuild on the roof, the damaged wall and the associated water damage was around $72,000.
The water damage came when a large storm hit the Yarra Valley the night after the storm which sent the tree through Ms Winter’s roof – as no assessor had attended the site and no tarp was laid, water swept into the home.
“There’s damage in the laundry, damage in the kitchen cupboards and benches – had the house been tarped, the damage would not have occurred,” she said.
“I’m quite disillusioned with it all, especially seeing other things deteriorate – tarps can only do a certain amount of good.”
After speaking to an assessor – who attended the property the day after the second storm – Ms Winter said the company had been sensitive to her concerns, and had organised accommodation for her while the works were organised and run.
“(But) I’d rather be in my own, fixed home,” she said.
