A family in Co Galway is assessing the damage that Storm Éowyn has caused to their home.
Emma Egan, from Ballinasloe, said she was terrified after the gable end of her home gave way to storm force winds in the early hours of yesterday morning.
"I was in my bed with the two kids in the front room, it was about three or four in the morning. I just felt like it was like a big crash, like a big earthquake, and everything shook.
"I thought it was inside because it's so loud, and I got up and I ran around the house to see what was done, and I couldn't see anything," Ms Egan said.
"What's the number you ring when your house falls down?"
She added: "I looked out the back and I looked at the front, and I see nothing, but I knew something had happened."
Her husband Shane was away at a football match in Manchester with one their sons at the time and she texted him to say how terrified she was.
"I was afraid, but I went back to bed but everything in the house was shaking, because I guess the elements were coming in and I wasn't aware of it.
"Doors were opening, and wardrobes were opening and shutting.
"I was in bed just crying because I didn't actually know what was going on," Ms Egan said.
She added: "I text Shane, even though I knew he wasn't around at around 5am, and I told him how scared I was."
Ms Egan, who was sleeping in the front room with her sons, said she fell back to sleep and was later woken up by a neighbour.
"My neighbour was knocking on the door. He said: 'I don't know how to say it, but your house fell down'."
The mother of three said she could not believe her eyes.
"I burst into tears, and I didn't know what to do. What's the number you ring when your house falls down?" she said.
Mr Egan returned home last night and said he couldn't believe what he saw.
"I didn't expect it to be that bad. When Emma told me, I didn't expect it and then I seen the pictures.
"Thank God it didn't go in the opposite way. They would have been under it," he said.
The community of Ballinasloe has rallied around the family.
The Egans said they have been inundated with offers of help and support since yesterday.
"There's people coming around, people we don't even know are coming up to help. They're knocking on the door and asking, 'what can we do'."
One of Ms Egan's best friends, Karen, has organised an online fundraiser to help the family with any costs.
"You never think you're going to be on the other side of someone's help. I'm actually so overwhelmed," Ms Egan said.
"Everywhere I go there's an offer of help or a hand, or ‘can I do something?' Like someone said to me, 'I don't know how to fix the roof, but what can I do?’"
She added: "Karen came with a breakfast for me and the kids yesterday and I was in the middle of being frantically upset, and I said, you know what, I'm going to be okay. Everybody's here, we're alive and that's the main thing."
Local people were helping the couple make the building safe today ahead of a weather system named by Spain's meteorological office as Storm Herminia, which is due to hit tomorrow.
The family's insurance company will send out assessors next week to survey the damage.
