Storm Ciarán: "I still shudder when I think about that night last year"

Friday 01 November 2024

Twelve months ago, Angie Tonner’s life was thrown upside down by Storm Ciarán. Her family home at FB Cottages was battered by the tornado which spun out of the deep low pressure system that swept across the island.

It was a night of deep trauma, enduring memories and unexpected consequences.

This included the national media coverage Angie's family received when the moment her daughter Jessica plucked her three-month-old baby Penny to safety was caught on a baby monitor.

WATCH: The moment Jessica plucked her three-month-old baby Penny to safety was caught on a baby monitor.

Today, the family is still in temporary accommodation, with Angie and her husband living at Les Ormes, but they are hopeful to return to FB Cottages soon.

She said: “We’re not back yet, but they have made good progress on the homes and we’ll hopefully be back in December.

“That said, we might ask if that can be put back until the New Year as it’s very difficult to move and get things delivered in the run-up to Christmas, with so many people busy and on holiday.”

Angie added: “I was very frustrated earlier on this year about the slow progress but, having spoken to others, I can see how difficult it is to get a builder in or scaffolding up, so I have more sympathy for our property manager now.

“I’m keen to get back into our home but I know others who were so fed up of waiting that they have moved elsewhere.”

Angie said that no one living in her estate whose properties had been badly damaged had moved back in yet.

Pictured: Garages and entryways were impacted too. (Rob Currie)

She said: “Unfortunately, because it took so long to make them wind- and watertight, everything got soaked inside.

“So even though some things didn’t look too bad straight after the storm, our homes deteriorated after that. That was really frustrating to see.”

Reflecting on that infamous night last November, she said: “You know the sound that your kettle makes when it boils? Well, it sounded like three million kettles boiling at the same time.

“We were so traumatised by that sound and it still makes me shudder thinking about it. I still jump when there’s an unexpected sound, such as someone dropping something on the floor."

Angie said she and her family had settled into life at Les Ormes, although she missed her pets: while Dennis the 14-year-old labradoodle remained with her and her husband, their rabbits, cat and goldfish are being looked after elsewhere. They had all been traumatised by the experience last November, she added.