Carol Wilson, the wife of one resident who was moved from the care home, said she could not “believe her eyes” when she saw the damage.
Mrs Wilson, 66 and from Roker, said: “It [the car] hit the home and we got a call at 23:10 hearing about the damage. I couldn’t believe my eyes, the whole top floor has caved in.”
Her husband, Kenneth Wilson, 76, had lived at the care home for more than a year and was evacuated at about 01:00 on Thursday, Mrs Wilson said.
She said her husband had been moved to a separate home in County Durham but it was not known when he could come back home.
“The thing for me now is getting him moved closer to home as I can’t drive to Durham,” she said.
“But I want to stress how brilliant the staff have been, I can’t thank them enough.”