A woman has gone viral after making the best out of a very bad situation.
Lorraine C Ladish’s home was impacted by Hurricane Milton, which devastated Florida earlier this month.
A thick tree branch fell through the roof of her kids’ bedroom, leaving a gaping hole.
Taking the whole thing on the chin, the content creator from Sarasota decided to dress the tree with decorations so it would better blend in.
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She later shared a video of her work to Instagram (@lorrainecladdish ), where it has racked up over nine million views.
“During the heavy winds of hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Siesta Key, a few miles from our home in Sarasota, two huge oak trees next to the house snapped and lost big branches,” Lorraine told What’s The Jam.
“The one in the front of the house fell on the house and the impact made the branches of one of the limbs go literally through the roof of my kid’s bedroom.
“We were not at home when it happened, I cannot imagine being here for it.
“We were going to stay at a local hotel as we have for other hurricanes, to ride it out close to home but in a sturdier building.
“The hotel was evacuated, so we traveled to Miami (a four-hour drive) to stay with family while Milton hit our area.
“My neighbours have keys to the house so the morning after they came to check on both houses.
“They sent me pictures and videos of our house covered with the fallen tree and the branches through the roof, and rubble on the floor.
“My stomach dropped when I saw that but in all honesty I was prepared to lose it all when we locked the house.”
Albeit upset, Lorraine decided to look on the bright side – her family was unharmed.
And the branch… just needed a little bit of jazzing up.
She decorated it using different pairs of boots, gloves, a broom, birthday hat and even tights.
Lorraine said: “I cope with life’s curveballs with humour.
“I make a living as a content creator/influencer and someone said ‘put some shoes on it’.
“I hit my head on the branches several times as I swept and mopped the floor, so I put some winter boots on it to soften the blow.
“I posted the picture on my Instagram stories and then I thought, ‘hey I have more pairs of boots’, so I had fun styling the tree and taking pictures.
“Eventually I also took videos dancing with the tree – salsa, line-dancing, Thriller-dancing.
“Why not.
“Humour is a good coping mechanism, at least for me.”
Although the branch has brought some laughter, the mum hopes it will be removed and the hole is fixed soon.
She said: “I hope the next thing is that it gets taken off our roof soon.
“It does have the potential of snapping off the tree entirely and having the roof cave in.
“But after a hurricane, insurance companies are busy.
“They sent a rapid response team five days after the hurricane to take the tree off our roof but they didn’t send a crane, so the tree is still there.
“I just hope it doesn’t rain.
“It’s all more an inconvenience and a big expense, than anything else.
“Lives have been lost in both hurricanes, Helene and Milton, which happened very close together and affected our area.
“I’m alive, my family is fine.
“This is fixable.”
Social media users have praised the mum for her positive attitude to dealing with a difficult situation.
One user said: “I really hope these are the photos you sent your insurance company.”
Julie joked: “These roots were made for walking.”
Kelly said: “What a way to make lemonade. I love it!”
Kristina said: “Can’t change what happened but you can 99% control what you make of it. You did an amazing job of finding a bit of humour in the hard.”
Toby said: “You have a fantastic sense of humor considering the situation!”
Speaking about the reaction to her video, Lorraine added: “Most people are happy to see something fun like this come out of a potentially tough situation.
“Now the positivity is reaching people all over the world and it’s a great feeling to know that my response to the situation made other people smile or realise attitude really is everything
“All that being said, once again, my heart goes out to the lives lost and to the people whose businesses and homes have been affected more than we have.”
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