WAVERLEY, NS — The mix of heavy snow and rain have made this winter unbearable for many of us, especially homeowners.
There have been dozens of reports of roofs collapsing from one of the province to the other, mostly in large metal structures. Even though it’s April, there’s still a concern that heavy snow left sitting on roofs could lead to more collapses, which is exactly what happened to one Waverley woman.
“It was Friday night, in the middle of the night, I started hearing snapping and cracking and popping. I assumed it was the deck coming off the house because there was a lot of snow on the deck, and the noises started getting a lot louder like fireworks,” Lori Barnes tells Global News.
It wasn’t the deck Barnes heard; the roof of her home was collapsing under the weight of the snow.
“It started with creaks and cracks and then you could hear the trusses cracking in the roof,” said Barnes.
Five days later, the damage is visible in every room of the 50-year-old home. “It’s been raining in the kitchen, the basement is soaking wet, every ceiling in almost every room has cracks and pieces that have come off the ceilings and insulation falling through now.”
The majority of Barnes’ and her 8-year-old daughter’s belongings have also been ruined. “I’m finding it extremely overwhelming, a lot of water damage to a lot of things I like. My books, my library that I built, it’s saturated. Every book I own is ruined, there’s some art work that got damaged.”
Barnes and her daughter have been staying in a hotel all week. Right now, she’s waiting for her insurance company to decide what can be dones with her home, if anything.
“They don’t know if it’s going to be fixed, chances are it’s going to have to be bulldozed.”
Barnes was supposed to be putting her house up for sale next week.
In the meantime, expenses are adding up. “I definitely need some assistance for sure. Right now, we’re in a bit of a bind, we’re in a bit of a bind for sure.”
A Go Fund Me Campaign has been launched to try and raise some money to help Barnes, her daughter and her boyfriend start over.
Barnes is reminding other homeowners to make sure they properly clear the snow off their roofs and avoid being in the same situation she is.
The family is currently in the process of setting up an online fundraising campaign, anyone interested in learning how to donate to Lori and her family can email her at loriannbarnes@outlook.com
Comments