Family 'inches from death' after tree fell on home

3 days ago

Lisa Young,Cornwalland

Tamsin Melville,Cornwall

Emily Hotchkiss said she and her two children had been "inches from death" when the tree fell on their house

BBC A huge pine tree has fallen and is lying across a two-storey house. It looks like there are four trunks and branches have split when they hit the roof. — Emily Hotchkiss said she and her two children had been "inches from death" when the tree fell on their house

A family remains in temporary accommodation after being "inches from death" as Storm Goretti swept a tree across their house.

Emily Hotchkiss and her two young children were in their Cornwall Housing home in Falmouth when the tree fell on 8 January.

She said she "broke down and was shaking" when she returned to the site a week later.

"You look at that house, you look at the size of the tree and your mind can't kind of help go to the 'what ifs'," she said. "A three-year-old and a six-year-old and myself were inches from death."

Emily Hotchkiss, who is living in temporary accommodation, said the family had lost most of their possessions

Emily Hotchkiss is sitting on a sofa talking. She has shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes. She is wearing a blue hoodie with the words: NEW YORK SPORT. Behind her are cushions and a wooden bannister. There are two 'see no evil, speak no evil' sculptures hanging on the wall and a kitchen beyond. — Emily Hotchkiss, who is living in temporary accommodation, said the family had lost most of their possessions

Most of the tree has been removed but damage to the property has meant the family have had to be housed in holiday accommodation until they can move elsewhere in March.

Hotchkiss said they were uninsured as the household budget had been too tight and they had now lost most of their possessions.

She said she had previously raised concerns about the tree with the council.

Cornwall Council said this particular tree had been inspected last year and had been assessed as being in a safe condition.

A spokesperson said the particularly strong winds appear to have caused it to fall despite no prior indication of an imminent risk.

Hotchkiss said she had become emotional when she had returned to the house

Viewed from inside, a window has been smashed open and is jammed full of large splintered branches. — Hotchkiss said she had become emotional when she had returned to the house

Hotchkiss questioned the national response to the damage sustained across the county.

"Cornwall's been forgotten," she said. "Why wasn't a national emergency declared down here when you've seen the extent of the damage across the county?

"Cornwall's been, as per, neglected, I feel."

A No 10 spokesperson said the government understood "the difficulties faced by communities in Cornwall" and it was "continuing to work round the clock with local authorities, network engineers and emergency responders" to resolve them.

Listen to the latest news for Cornwall

On a visit to Cornwall on Friday, security minister Dan Jarvis acknowledged the storm had "significant consequences for the people of Cornwall" but defended the government's response.

He said: "Through the process of COBRA we provided a lot of support to the local authority here, we sent out the emergency alert ... so there was a lot of support, logistics, coordinating activity that was going on nationally."

He added: "It's been a big storm and I think the recovery has been effective but is still of course underway but from a national government perspective we stand with the people of Cornwall and of course we want to do everything we can to support them."

Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].