FRIGHTENING: Doris Didlick with the tree that fell onto her Piper St home on Sunday afternoon. Photos: Geoff O’Neill 140113GOB08
NORTH Tamworth resident Doris Didlick turned 85 yesterday and it’s a birthday she won’t soon forget.
Mrs Didlick lives in Piper St and described the storm that swept through the area late on Sunday afternoon as a “little tornado”.
She said her and her sister, visiting from the coast, noticed the darkening sky and then the wind hit.
“We heard this terrible noise and I tried to shut the front door but I couldn’t,” Mrs Didlick said.
“It was like a vortex ... I tried to close it but it slammed me against the wall, the wind was just so strong.”
It wasn’t long before a large tree, 12-13 metres high, on the footpath was uprooted and fell onto Mrs Didlick’s unit.
She said fortunately it looked worse than it was, with damage to her home limited to a few roof tiles, a twisted aerial and a buckled porch rail.
The tree blocked her way out of the unit though and a neighbour had to cut a path for her
to the front gate yesterday morning so she could get to a medical appointment.
It’s the first birthday she’s celebrated in town since moving from Moore Creek and she hopes the next won’t be quite so eventful.
“I didn’t sleep last night,” she said yesterday.
“I just hope it doesn’t happen again.”
