On Friday, a terrifying storm blew their home and hard work to pieces.

Trees were scattered like ten pins and tiles became flying missiles as the storm blew up Brown’s Lane toward Dudley and Enid Schipp’s home of 45 years.

“It was the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced,” Mrs Schipp told The Leader yesterday.

“The house was exploding around us and then the rain started to come in.”

Mrs Schipp and her husband had been watching the storm sweep across the plain from their hillside home when with amazing speed it was upon them.

“Down it came and hit with a vengeance,” Mrs Schipp said.

“I don’t even know what went first.

“There was so much noise and everything outside was white. We could hear ripping and crashing. We didn’t know what to do or where to go.

“It was too dangerous to go out and it just kept going and going.”

The front patio of the Schipps’ home was unrecognisable on Monday when The Leader visited.

A roof that had been supported by concrete columns was nowhere to be seen and tarps covered much of what had been the roof.

“Everything inside is ruined,” Mrs Schipp said.

“The ceilings collapsed yesterday.”

A piece of the Schipps’ shed was found some 400m up the road and Mrs Schipp estimates the wind gusts reached up to 200km/h.

“Half my house is on the front lawn and half is on the back it seems. The roof of the front patio was speared into the tennis court out the back,” she said.

“You see people on the news in these situations all the time but you never expect to live through it yourself.”

And the Schipps count themselves as lucky.

“We are still alive and we have wonderful friends who have come to help and brought food and clothes and offered a place to stay. We still think fire would be the worst; we at least still have our photos and precious possessions. They can be saved.

“I look at it now and I just don’t know where to start.”

“But we’re past crying now; you have to keep a sense of humour.”

Insurance assessors were scheduled to visit the Schipps home yesterday to start counting the cost.