By Mikayla van Loon
With the power blacking out at 10.30pm, Montrose residents Gary and Karen Lee decided to take themselves to bed, little did they know five hours later they would wake to the sound of a tree falling through the centre of their house.
“It was about 20 past three in the morning, and I just heard this crack. I jumped out of bed to have a look and all I was worried about was the animals. Everything was in darkness,” Karen said.
“All you could see was just this tree sitting on top of our roof and really there was no roof at all, it was just exposed to the sky.”
Wanting to protect their cars, Gary and Karen moved them out onto the street, free from trees and sat there not knowing what to do next.
“We sat in my car, which is a Hilux ute and it was actually rocking with the wind. It was that eerie because of the darkness, no lights on anywhere obviously and it was unbelievable the amount of strength the wind had,” Gary said.
Being in the MFB for 10 years, Gary said his training kicked in but for Karen, the panic had her extremely worried and normally in any situation where they needed help, she would call her sister.
“I was panicking too much thinking maybe they can’t come here because it’s dangerous for them to drive,” she said.
“Gary had to keep telling me ‘it’s ok. We’re ok. We’re in the car, there’s no trees around us,’ because I was thinking that another tree would fall down on top of our car.”
Karen’s sister and brother-in-law drove as far as they could to meet her but Gary stayed behind having called the SES for help. By 7am, he decided to leave their Stradbroke Road home, having not been able to get assistance.
Nine months later, Gary and Karen were able to move back into their home on 11 March after it was repaired from the four tonne tree that fell right through the middle.
The design of Gary and Karen’s house is a long, ranch style home, with a hallway separating bedrooms on one side and bathroom on the other.
“If that tree was three feet to the right, it would have landed on our bed…And that’s the difference between now and we’re not here,” Gary said.
“You’re living on cloud nine. We’re happily married. We’ve got all these grandkids and everything’s rosy and then all of a sudden, bang. One tree and it’s all gone.
“But in a way, I suppose we’re lucky. We had insurance. We’ve had good neighbours and lucky we have a sensational family. So that’s where we’ve been lucky.”
Those nine months of being shifted from house to house, Gary said “it was really challenging” mainly because they felt like gypsies.
“The hardest thing I think for us was that none of the possessions where you’re living are yours. Nothing’s yours except a suitcase full of clothes you’ve got,” he said.
Now back in their house, although 80 per cent of their belongings had to be replaced, the keepsakes and mementos were saved making home feel like home again.
Having had all the dangerous trees removed from their property, Gary and Karen said they no longer fear a tree falling on their house but when walking through nearby parkland, they can’t help but notice the state of some of the trees.
“You’re more vigilant at looking at your environment. We worry more about the people around us and the environment,” he said.
“Who knows what the climate is going to do and what is going to happen here with the environment but you just don’t wish it on anybody else.”
