By Jessica Anstice
Cockatoo was one of the harder hit communities by the weekend’s storms.
Two homes were crushed by trees during the high winds on Friday morning.
One house, on Maurice Street, was completely demolished after a giant tree fell through the centre of it.
The owners of the house were on holidays in the Northern Territory at the time of the incident.
The parents of the owners attended the scene but were removed from the area by the SES due to gas and electricity concerns.
CFA volunteers checked the house for gas leaks and asbestos was detected.
The forceful winds caused a slightly lighter tree to collapse onto another house on View Hill Road the same day.
The owners of the house were home at the time but luckily, no one was injured.
About 25 Emerald SES volunteers responded to 30-40 calls for assistance over the course of the weekend.
“It was crazy. We were about to have breakfast on Friday and the pager went off,” volunteer Rob Fazzino said.
“It was just job after job, after job.”
