An Errington family is left without a home after the December windstorm toppled a tree onto their trailer, causing extensive damage to the roof.
Cindy Clarke and her three children were living in the trailer at the time but fortunately no one was in the home when the large cedar tree fell onto it. Clarke said she was in the trailer 45 minutes before the tree fell but left feeling that it was unsafe to stay.
The severe windstorm hit Vancouver Island on Dec. 20, causing extensive damage to homes, hydro poles, forests, parks and anything not tied down. In the Parksville Qualicum Beach region, the Whiskey Creek and Errington areas were hit the hardest, with some residents without power for more than a week.
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Clarke said after getting the damage to her trailer assessed, she was told it would cost approximately $17,000 to repair the roof.
“That’s only $2,000 less than what I paid for it,” she said. “I don’t know where I’m going from here because $17,000 to fix a $19,000 trailer just seems like a complete waste.”
Clarke said she originally had insurance for the home, which was grouped with her parents’ house insurance, but a switch of companies about a month before the tree fell didn’t include the trailer.
Clarke said she and her family moved into the trailer as a “starting over” venture but since the damage, she and two of her children now live in a room at her parents’ house.
A GoFundMe page has been started by a friend of Clarke’s to help the family.