Tornado-like winds which toppled cars and threw garden sheds around like toys damaged 70 homes and more than 100 cars in a housing estate estate in Co Meath on Saturday.
As residents of Hansfield Court in Clonee began clearing up yesterday, they were also dealing with another phenomenon; unscrupulous tradesmen pretending they were sent by insurance companies to carry out repairs.
Householders say the winds, which lasted less than five minutes, were "like something out of the Wizard of Oz" and left a scene of relative devastation in part of the Little Pace area of the village.
Many residents were sweeping up debris from trees and broken roof tiles, while workmen were on various roofs carrying out emergency repairs. Destroyed cars were being towed away, while the fire brigade had to cut the limbs from two 300-year-old trees which had been damaged.
It was one of a number of extreme weather incidents throughout the country yesterday, caused by a short but severe cold front which passed over on Saturday.
Twelve hundred travellers faced significant delays over the weekend after two Aer Lingus transatlantic aircraft collided with each on the ground at Dublin Airport following a freak gust which was measured at 85 m.p.h.
In Clonee, some feared the winds had caused significant structural damage to their homes, which they described as shaking violently during the storm, leaving some floorboards and walls cracked.
Many of the roofs in Hansfield Court had been stripped of much of their tiles by the winds; shards littered the driveways and gardens of the affected houses. The shards also acted like missiles, one flying through the glass door of one kitchen and straight through the door of the oven.
"It's a miracle somebody wasn't killed," said Ms Lisa Ennis, who lives in one of the worst-affected houses with her boyfriend, Mr Killian Kelly. A neighbour's garden shed was blown into their back garden, which was littered with broken tiles, some of which were embedded into the lawn. A street light smashed into their front window, while their car was also damaged. Next door, a two-tonne transit van was flipped over.
Ms Ennis is adamant the damage was caused by a tornado or twister, which she said was visible. Houses less than 50 metres away remained untouched.
"There was a flash of lightening and a clap of thunder, then I looked outside and I could see hailstones going horizontally . . . It was very frightening because the house was shaking."
Residents were told to stay indoors yesterday because of falling tiles and other hazards.
Mr Damien O'Hanlon said his two boys, Andrew and Robert, were in the attic of their house when the winds struck and were extremely frightened when the house began to shake. Their garden shed was blown apart and the boys' bicycles, recent Christmas presents, were damaged.
Both family cars were also hit with flying debris, with the roof of one almost collapsed on one side by the force of debris.
According to Mr O'Hanlon, repair efforts were hampered by rogue tradesmen.
"One crowd we had never heard of arrived to us this morning and said the insurance company had sent them, but they couldn't have because we had already gotten a roofer with the agreement of the company."
Meanwhile a family near Swords also had a lucky escape after two cars were crushed by trees felled during freak gusts.
Members of the Jones family and their friends had just left two cars at their home, Butterfly Farm, when the winds struck, blowing over 10 trees in the space of five minutes and crushing two cars. A dog in the boot of one car had to be cut free, but he was unhurt.