| Their ordeal began at around 12.30am while they were sleeping in their top floor apartment on Tay Street.
A large section of the roof blew off the four-storey building into an adjoining car park on Canal Street. Nobody was injured during the dramatic incident but a silver Corsa was written off as much of the debris came to rest on its roof.
It is understood the flats, part of a large block constructed in 1996, were occupied by young families.
Tay Street was closed for several hours as contractors attempted to assess the extent of the damage. It eventually reopened shortly before 11am.
The family who fled had to seek refuge with relatives and will remain there until it is safe to return home.
Other occupants of the block were left shell-shocked.
John Shackley (39) was relieved to sleep through the whole incident. He added, “I had a phone call from a friend asking if I was OK. He explained the roof had come down but I must admit it was news to me. It has come as a bit of a shock.”
One bypasser at the scene said, “There is a big gable end on the building and the whole thing came down onto a car. It is just shocking to think this much carnage could be caused by a bit of wind.”
Meanwhile, the owners of the car crushed by the masonry returned to the scene today to assist with the vehicle’s removal.
Gareth Coutts, of Errol, had been staying overnight at his girlfriend Claire Allison’s flat. The pair were awakened just after midnight by a “loud bang”.
Gareth said, “We thought it might have been a tree at first because of the noise.
“I was totally shocked when I saw what happened — my car’s a complete write-off.”
Shortly after the gable came away, the whole block was evacuated.
Claire added the families in the top four flats were affected most.
She said, “Firemen came up to help them out of the building. They just had time to grab things for their young child. It’s a shame this has happened.”
The flats are owned by the Perthshire Housing Association. Among the many emergency service and building control personnel at the scene was PHA contractor Tony Houston.
“The priority is to the make the scene as safe as possible as soon as possible,” he told the Tele. With winds high again today, Mr Houston admitted the roof was still far from stable. |
