Storm Eunice is already a week ago, but she feels Carla (31) is still in the middle of it. The roof of her block of houses flew off during the storm and since then the fear has been good. “My house no longer feels safe.”
Carla: “While pointing to the garden, I asked my husband Robbin: ‘What flies there?’ The food was just on the table. McDonald’s. We planned a wonderful evening during storm Eunice, with fast food and a movie. But then I saw what flew through the garden: insulation material. Followed by roof panels. Panic struck me. Did our house collapse?
Silence before the storm
The week before the storm, our pets were restless. Our cat was much more affectionate than usual and our dog once pooped in his entire crate. Animals sense disaster, don’t they say? My newborn son too, I think. On Thursday night, Lennon suddenly slept through the night for 9 hours, like a log. Silence before the storm. Although I didn’t really think about it at the time. We live in Zwolle, I thought that code orange wouldn’t be too bad here. The worst weather would probably be on the coast, I thought.
I was broken
I’ve been on my gums for seven weeks. I just became a mother and I have no idea how to continue to take good care of myself. I drink and eat way too little and take too little rest. As a result, I have been struggling for weeks with bladder infections and fungal infections and even a breast infection. I am tired, crying and because of my restlessness my son also cries a lot. I was also hoping for not too much hassle on Friday. I was broken. That movie night was very welcome.
Is the house collapsing?
And then our roof flew off. It’s weird to experience something like that. My home, my safe haven, suddenly didn’t feel so safe anymore. Because if a roof can just fly off, what else can happen? Is the house collapsing? Will the rain come in soon? How was the attic? I didn’t dare look. My son was in my arms, still quite calm. Rocking it, I stared out into the yard, as if that would tame the storm.
Video footage of Carla’s block of houses as the roof flies off. Text continues below the video.
fled home
I was startled when there was a knock on the window. My husband sprinted to the door, where the neighbor was standing. He warned us that the bench in our front yard almost flew away. Robbin was about to step outside when a brick landed just inches from him. He could have been dead. The fear was good. What if a rock came through the window?
We had to get out of the house. I quickly dressed warmly and packed some things to get through the night and then I left for the neighbors across the street, who don’t have a corrugated iron roof like us. During the crossing I was in survival mode. I tried not to think too much about what the wind howling around me might throw at me and my son.
Angel on his shoulder
The damage remained with the roof, as it turned out when we took a good look at our house a day later. And the pipe of our central heating boiler had broken off. “If you fire now, you could get carbon monoxide poisoning,” said one firefighter. I was so glad I didn’t know that before. My husband had stayed overnight in our house anyway to keep an eye on things and stay with the animals. He had once again had an angel on his shoulder.
It looked like a slum
Our entire list was hit hard. It looked like a slum! The entire top layer of our roofs was gone. All that remained was the wooden top layer. A layer that barely stops water.
There was an emergency roof and tarpaulin. But some neighbors already had significant leakage. We had no water damage yet. In the meantime we collected buckets and towels for the neighbors. The people on the corner had a real swimming pool in the attic! As terrible as it was, the togetherness in the street was beautiful. We were all in the same boat.
Camping in your own home
The storm is now almost a week ago, but we are far from finished with the consequences. Due to a shortage of materials, it will take weeks before our roof is completely good again. Until then we can be in the house, but it is freezing cold. I slept there one night. Packed thick. It was quite warm under the covers, but in the morning you don’t want to get out of bed. The room crackles with cold. There is also no hot shower. It’s camping in our own house. Until everything is arranged, I sleep with my parents.
It’s just stuff
My husband still sleeps in our own house to keep an eye on it. I hope that in a few months we will have a new roof again and that we can build confidence in our house. What else should I do? Put it up for sale? Where should I go in this housing market?
It’s scary when the outer shell of your safe life is peeled off. What if the weather starts to storm and the emergency roof flies off? What if it starts to rain? Then our house fills up and everything is messed up. I try to hold on to the fact that it’s just stuff. We still have each other and we are safe now. But when I think about what could have happened, all I can do is cry. Our safe life suddenly feels a lot less obvious.”