It was only seconds after the storm hit that Rohan and Robyn Potter's caravan was pummelled with debris, causing extensive damage to their home.
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The couple and their children, Gypsy, 4, and Atlas, 8 months, were eating dinner in the caravan at the Gold Nugget Tourist Park in Epsom as the storm rolled in.
Shortly after the storm reached the park, roofing from the shed on the neighbouring property blew into the caravan.
Mr Potter said they heard a bang before the roof started to cave in.
The family rushed outside to the car, then tried to salvage what belongings they could as rain poured in through the roof and broken windows.
The winds were so strong that a small piece of asbestos shot through their canvas annexe and became lodged in a tree on the other side.
The family has only been living in Bendigo for nearly two months and while they have lost their home, they are thankful to have escaped relatively uninjured.
Mr Potter said baby Atlas would usually have been sleeping under one of the windows that shattered in the storm, but was still awake at that time.
He did, however, suffer a small cut on his forehead after something fell on him in the chaos, and four-year-old Gypsy was left upset after the incident.
Ms Potter thanked residents, guests and staff of the caravan park for helping them with everything from storing their belongings to buying them food, saying she was overwhelmed by the support.
“It’s just been amazing… we’re really thankful for that,” she said.
The owners of the caravan park, Linda and Colin Johnston, have housed the family in a cabin on site until they get their accommodation sorted.
Meanwhile, properties at Huntly did not escape unscathed from the storm.
The roof of Adam Palmer’s home was damaged when lightning struck a tree next to the house, causing it to topple.
As of Wednesday morning his family remained without power, it having gone out about 6.30pm on Tuesday.
But Mr Palmer said friends and neighbours jumped in to lend a hand, helping take down the tree and other ones that had begun to crack, cutting them up and cleaning up some of the debris.
“As far as I’m concerned, we got out pretty lucky – we’ve still got a house to sleep in,” Mr Palmer said.
Nearby, Mr Palmer’s neighbour Tanya Blake was left cleaning up on Wednesday morning after a large gum tree branch fell onto her carport and car.
The branch caved in one of the beams of the carport and mangled the corrugated iron roofing, and left large dents in the roof of the car.
“It was lucky it didn’t land on the house or go through the windows… or that no one was outside at the time,” Ms Blake said.
