Help Kathryn & kids get back on their feet

Hi, I’m Sarah, and I’m asking for help for my sister Kathryn who has lost everything (including her 2 cats) after an electrical fire on Sunday 28/1/24.

Tropical Cyclone Kirrily passed through Townsville on Thursday 25/1/24. Kathryn thought she got through relatively unscathed, and just with some loss of food after power outages.

‘It looks as though with the loss of power Thursday night, and then a re-establishment of power Saturday, there was an unknown electrical fault in the kitchen area. Before we left the house after the cyclone we had unplugged everything as a precaution - so we had no idea.

We had been back to the property earlier in the afternoon to plug everything in and clean the fridges out etc, and nothing was out of the ordinary, and we left the fridges to cool overnight before I had planned to be back today to restock & it happened a few hours after we left.

We had been out of the house a few hours when we noticed our automatic water stations for the cats were offline, and had presumed network outage. So René made his way over to put some bowls out for them - we were worried they would be without water for too long in the heat - and he got there moments before emergency services. Both cats were deceased on entry.

The saving grace in all of this is that we did our cleanup in the afternoon and not the evening, as it took a few hours from when we turned things on before the fire started. If we had have done that in the evening it would’ve happened overnight & the kitchen area is between my room and the kids rooms. And it could have been a lot worse.

So I am grateful for the fact that no one was home, and that they are safe.’

Both Kathryn and the kids are devastated at the loss of their home and the cats, they weren’t just pets, they were family. She has worked hard over the past 6-12months and finally had made her house feel like a home.

Any amount you can contribute to help Kathryn and the kids get back on their feet will be greatly appreciated.