A FAMILY has been left shocked after three 100-year-old trees smashed their Truro home during Storm Goretti.

Rob Wilding, 50 and his wife Jenny Morris, 48, were in their kitchen extension last night [Thursday, January 8] when they heard an "almighty" gust of wind and a "loud" crash.

Their 15-year-old son, who was in an upstairs room, shouted that branches had skewered the house.

When Rob rushed to see the damage, he opened the front door and witnessed a huge tree over the house. Ten minutes later, two other trees fell on top of the house, destroying the roof and damaging their cars.

Rob, who lives in Falmouth Road, said the incident was a "great shock" due to the size of the trees, which he believes are around 40m high.

"The children were really shaken,” he said. “It was a great shock because these trees are huge.

"It was just complete devastation. My van is under a tree. My son's car is probably a write-off. My wife's car is smashed on the roof. It is a complete mess everywhere.

"We have got two holes in the roof, no water to the house. There is structural damage to the top layer of the house.

"Our kids were really scared. We got them to a friend's house quite quickly to stay over and the insurance company has been amazing in helping so far.”

Rob added: "We are sad about the trees. They have been here for 100 years.

"They were a big feature of the house. We called the house ‘Tall Trees’ because of the trees."

Cornwall was one of the most affected areas in the country during Storm Goretti, with the region hitting a red warning last night.

Rob explained that the wind started picking up at 7.30pm, so he came outside and had a look. "I came back into the house and we were in the kitchen, which is an extension to the back of the house, heard this almighty gust of wind, a loud crash,” he said.

"My son was upstairs and he shouted that there were branches in the house. I opened the front door and the tree was down and over the house.

"We got everyone back at the kitchen, and within 10 minutes there was another almighty gust of wind, a loud crash and the other two trees then came down.

"All the trees came down within the space of 10 minutes. Everyone was OK - that's why I’m relatively calm about it."

The family of six are currently in a hotel close by, but are potentially moving into temporary accomodation while their home is repaired.

Rob thanked the community for being supportive and offering food and drink during their difficult time. He said the house needs a "major" roof repair and it will likely take a few months to sort out.

"Loads of people taking photos from the road because it is pretty devastating what happened,” he added. "We get to see the good stuff that nature does and sometimes the bad stuff. The wind was super-strong."