I felt physically sick after part of my Blackpool home collapsed in Storm Dave just days after I moved out
A mum has told how she felt “physically sick” after waking to find part of her former home had collapsed just days after she moved out.
The gable wall of the property on Westbourne Avenue gave way during Storm Dave in the early hours of Sunday morning (April 5), crashing down next to the bedroom where she had been sleeping only days earlier.
Donna Hanna, 53, had lived at the house for nearly three years before handing the keys back on March 28. Just over a week later, part of the building collapsed.
She said: “When I came out and saw it, I just felt sick. I just thought, that was my bedroom.
“I can’t believe it, to be honest. To think I was in it just days before.”
Photos from the scene show the gable end of the house torn away, with bricks scattered across the ground and fencing put up around the damaged property.
Donna, who is now living nearby with family and her 19-year-old daughter Jorja, said she had been awake when the collapse is believed to have happened.
“The wind was absolutely howling and the house was shaking,” she said.
“I remember feeling a sort of rumble, but you didn’t really think anything of it because of how bad the storm was.”
The damage was discovered on Sunday morning, with a neighbour alerting Donna to what had happened.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed crews were called at 6.45am on April 5 to reports of a dangerous structure involving a collapsed gable wall.
Firefighters from South Shore and Blackpool attended alongside police and the local council to make the scene safe, remaining there for around three hours.
The collapse came as Storm Dave battered the Fylde coast overnight, with gusts topping 70mph and causing damage across Blackpool.
Donna said the reality of what could have happened has left her shaken.
“I just kept thinking, we could have been in that,” she said.
“Even now, thinking about it, I feel sick knowing I could have been there with my daughter.”
She added that the alleyway beside the house is usually busy, with people regularly passing through and children often playing there.
“I’m just so grateful it happened when it did,” she said. “That alley is used all the time. Kids play down there. It could have been so much worse if it had happened during the day.”
Looking back, Donna said the decision to move out when she did now feels like it happened for a reason.
“I just can’t believe how lucky we were,” she said.
“We could have been in that. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”