Green Lanes residents to spend another night in hotels

The two apartment blocks in the Green Lanes sustained damage to their roofs, which caused debris to hit other apartments. Risk assessments of the buildings are currently ongoing, with residents allowed in briefly this afternoon to collect some belongings. They will stay in hotels again tonight.

Sonia Rocha lives in the most badly damaged apartment building. She was in bed when she heard a loud bang.

‘I checked and it was the car windscreen being smashed. I thought that part of the wall had collapsed, but it was actually the roof,’ she said.

‘I couldn’t sleep any more because I was worried, and then someone knocked on my door.’

She and her neighbours were relocated to the main hall of the premises, away from the wind, and had to wait for about an hour while arrangements were made for hotel stays. ‘Even once we went to the hotel I wasn’t able to sleep,’ Ms Rocha said.

‘I was just so worried most of the night and eventually woke up with headaches.

‘We’re okay, we’re just worried about the cat.’

‘To see them have to leave their homes like that is really sad’

Incidents of damage were reported from 8.30pm on Thursday.

Most of the damage came from one apartment block, another was evacuated due to damage, and some residents in other blocks were evacuated to avoid debris.

‘Things were flying around like bullets, and some damage is from part of the roof coming off and hitting other blocks,’ said John Merrien, a director of the flats.

‘The most important thing is we’ve got no reports of injuries and no reports of death.’

More than 90 units of housing and between 50 and 55 residents were evacuated.

‘We have an incredible group of tenants here, a very low turnover and a lot of people have lived here for 15 or 20 years.

‘To see them have to leave their homes like that is really sad,’ said Mr Merrien.

‘This place is like a little village and to see such extensive damage and people’s cars being damaged, it’s just horrible.’

Mr Merrien said he hoped to get a scaffolding canopy over the damaged roofs quickly to get some people back into their homes.

‘It’s a massive clean-up operation and we’re trying to minimise disruption for the people who live here, it’s really scary for people,’ he said.

Emergency services are praised by residents

Residents of evacuated properties praised a quick response from the emergency services as they emerged for a hotel breakfast yesterday morning.

Emergency services evacuated two blocks of flats and a resident from another property during the peak of Storm Goretti, which led to about 50 people being taken to two hotels overnight.

Julie Mechem went from Maison Brock in the Green Lanes to the St Pierre Park Hotel.

‘I heard a loud bang and I thought it was the window blowing in, but I think it was just all the debris,’ she said.

‘Then someone knocked on the door and said that we were being evacuated here.

‘The emergency services were very good getting us all out and the main thing is that we are all OK.’

A large part of the apartment’s block roof was removed during by the storm and residents said they had heard that trees had fallen on nearby cars.

‘I was just at home sleeping and heard a loud bang, I just thought it was someone doing something in one of the other flats like normal, but we saw later that the roof had gone,’ said accountant Augustine Apinoko who was also evacuated.

‘I heard that some trees had fallen and damaged cars. We don’t know when we will be going back home.’

Hotel barman Ben Taylor, who was working at the St Pierre Park overnight, said that when the people who were relocated came into the hotel they were still in shock and clearly worried.

‘But they all seemed to know each other and support each other through it,’ he said.

‘We were closing up, but when they came in we just had them all in the bar, made them a hot drink and just tried to make them feel comfortable.’