THE moving boxes still sit piled up in Len La Tours’ loungeroom, but his favourite chair is out and his dogs are happily wandering around at his side.
After 19 months Len has finally returned to the place he’s called home for 40 years.
Len’s a pragmatic and ‘tough old bugger’ but he’s eternally grateful to the generosity of so many locals who have supported him in so many ways since his home on Tamborine Oxenford Road was destroyed by the 2023 Christmas tornado.
“I can’t count the number of times people have stopped me and said if I need a hand to give them a call,” he said.
“A sincere thank you to all the people who have taken an interest in my recovery and the rebuilding of my home and have assisted me in so many ways.”
The 75-year-old was just about to sit down to enjoy the sausages he’d cooked on Christmas night when he saw the storm and thought he’d better close some windows.
“By the time I walked down the end of the hall the wind velocity was so strong I could just close them. Within a matter of a few seconds the windows began to smash. I took shelter in the bedroom until it was all over,” he recalled.
“I wasn’t terrified or scared but interested in what was going on around me. Once I could see through the ceiling and saw the lightning, I realised the roof was gone and just had to sit where I was and cop it. I just had to take shelter as best I could and ride it out.
“When it was over I went to walk up the hall but couldn’t get past the debris. The ceiling had fallen in; the roof had blown off in one big lump and gone over the power lines beyond the neighbour’s house taking a lot of the ceiling with it.
“The back walls were standing but it was pouring down rain and water was coming in everywhere.
“It was depressing, I thought what do I save, what do I grab, I put a few photos away in a chest of drawers.”
Len’s thoughts then turned to finding his beloved dogs.
“I called out to the dogs but there was no answer and thought that was the end of them, but they had more sense and came back shortly later,” he said.
All that remained of Len’s house was a couple of walls and the big brick open fireplace.
“It had the spirit of all the people who had lived here prior to me. For it to be damaged and destroyed it was depressing,” he shared.
For the next month or two Len said he and the dogs led a gypsy existence, staying with his niece at Bahrs Scrub and then with Matt Southcombe on the mountain and hopping around to some other places, before settling in a cabin on Nicole Thompson’s property for just over a year.
Len was determined to return to the place he’d called home for 40 years and had a new home built in Warwick, which was moved to the mountain in two pieces, and just over a month ago he and the dogs moved into their new home.
“It was a bit like coming home,” he said when he stepped through the front door.
“I told the dogs we were home. The big one got the zoomies and started running around the yard.
“It’s the same layout as the old house, but a bit bigger and a lovely big veranda now.
And once again locals have come forward bringing gifts of furniture, rugs, microwaves and a whole lot of little things, which Len said has made a big difference.
“It has all helped. You don’t expect it. It’s when push comes to shove that people come out of the woodwork to help you,” he said.
“I love the place, the bush and the animals. Being in the bush is my environment. To go somewhere else and leave that view and be able to look around and see the birds is an integral part of my life.
“We are home and we are happy and not going anywhere in a hurry.”
