Alice Springs resident whose home was destroyed welcomes funding support

Alice Springs resident says moment roof tore off 'like an explosion', welcomes support In short: An Alice Springs resident, whose home was destroyed by the storm on Monday, has welcomed joint disaster recovery funding from NT and federal governments. Brooke Klarenbeek's insurance claim is one of hundreds already made in Alice Springs following the storm. What's next? Ms Klarenbeek expects she will not return to her home for a long time, and hopes her insurance covers repairs. Brooke Klarenbeek looked shell-shocked as she described the terrifying moment the roof tore off her family home during a wild storm that lashed Alice Springs on Monday afternoon. "It just went bang," she said, wide-eyed. "Like an explosion had just gone off." As she sat in her lounge room of 11 years, she was surrounded by furniture strewn with roofing debris, bathed in light from the space where her roof used to be, sodden insulation swaying from the beams above. "[The roof] just got ripped off, parts of it are in our next door neighbour's yard ... then pretty much the whole, entire ceiling caved in on everything, in about 75 per cent of the house," she said. She sheltered in a doorway, unsure what to do. "It was hailing outside, didn't know whether [I] could go outside, didn't know what was happening out there," she said. Long road ahead Ms Klarenbeek is one of hundreds of residents whose homes or property were damaged during the surprise storm that brought 96 kilometre per hour winds and hail. The event lasted about half an hour, tearing down trees and powerlines, leaving destruction in its wake. Power was cut to 9,000 homes in the town of about 12,000 electricity customers, with 2,000 without power as of Wednesday morning. "I'm not sure what the long-term plan looks like for where we're going to stay or how long all this is going to take ... the hard bit is just not knowing," she said. Disaster relief welcomed According to the Insurance Council of Australia, Ms Klarenbeek's insurance claim is one of 400 lodged in Alice Springs since the weather event. "If you have had some debris impact your house or branches and that sort of thing, we really encourage home owners to get their claim lodged straight away," Insurance Council's Liam Walter says. Ms Klarenbeek said she welcomed disaster recovery assistance funds being made available by the federal and NT governments. "Every time we have a storm, everyone usually gets together and helps... but not everyone has that support,"she said. "That initial support straight away that you need, when you don't know what else to do, not the insurance five or 10 weeks later. "Not everyone has the money to fix something straight away, but need it done." The assistance will support eligible households with a one-off payment of up to $16,901 for essential structural repairs where insurance will not meet repair costs. The announcement also covers freight subsidies for primary producers, as well as asset assistance grants for non-profit organisations. Local councils will also be supported in recovery. "It's a bit of a relief," Ms Klarenbeek said. "Not just for me but for other people as well ... $16,000 would go a massive way." A nervous wait After a nervous wait for her insurance company to assess her property, Ms Klarenbeek has now moved her belongings to a safe place in case of more wet weather. She said she was still in shock as she looked around her home. "You'll look up and you'll see sky, it's just insane to think that this is my home,"she said. "It's supposed to be feeling safe here."