At the end of last year, Jessica and Ryan Carr’s Toyota Prado unexpectedly burst into flames – forcing the family to scramble to safety.

“We had our two little children with us, and another on the way, so once we stopped to check where the smoky smell was coming from and popped the bonnet and saw flames, there was no way we were hanging around near that car,” Mrs Carr commented on Facebook after the incident on December 29.

Since then, the young family have been borrowing Jessica’s  parents SUV.

But just before last Wednesday’s brutal storm, Jessica was swimming in the Mudgee Pool with her young daughter – when they were told to evacuate.

“Everybody jumped out of the pool, next thing cyclonic winds came and trees were flying into the pool everywhere and we all ducked under cover.

“We were told that there was a tree on multiple cars outside  – and I just knew it was going to be ours because we’re just having a run of bad luck at the moment.

One of the historic large trees in Lawson Park was uprooted and smashed into the bonnet of the car – during the five minute “mini tornado” – with winds reaching up to 130 kms per hour.

A number of other cars were also damaged in the Mudgee Pool carpark. Lawson Park remains closed to the public, Mudgee Pool reopened on Sunday morning.