A storm that ravaged southwestern Manitoba and Interlake Sunday left a road of destruction that tore down parts of buildings and left thousands without electricity.
Stuart Duncan, the public works manager for the town of Southwest Prairie View, was at his home in St-Lazare when the storm hit, shortly after Environment Canada issued a severe storm warning.
“When you saw him coming it was almost like you could see a wall coming straight at you,” he said.
“He felled half a dozen trees; I’d say he tried to get the roof out of the house. He pushed the soffits underneath and tried to get in, but the roof managed to hold up.”
A storm brought heavy rains and strong winds to southwest Manitoba and Interlake on Sunday. (Submitted by Chris Graham)
Other buildings had their roofs ripped off and some grain containers were torn down. Duncan is now beginning to assess the damage.
Environment Canada also issued tornado surveillance for much of southwestern Manitoba on Sunday, although no tornado sightings were reported.
Chris Graham, a Regina-based photographer, followed the storm as he moved through Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
The highlight of the storm was the wind, he said.
“We noticed fallen trees everywhere,” he said. He saw several highway signs folded, “and some were completely knocked down and in the ditch.”
About six miles northwest of Foxwarren, near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border, Graham found part of a grain container that landed in the middle of a field.
Graham’s parents live in Steep Rock, on the shores of Lake Manitoba. A friend of his who lives on the other side of the lake recorded a wind speed reading of more than 130 miles per hour, Graham said.
The storm shattered Hydro’s poles and knocked down trees, cutting off electricity to thousands of customers. (Submitted by Chris Graham)
There were several power outages over a wide area, affecting 4,215 customers in Foxwarren, Binscarth, Waywayseecappo, Rossburn, St-Lazare, Roblin, Greenway and Angusville, Manitoba Hydro spokesman Bruce Owen said in a statement. e-mail.
About 500 were still without light Monday morning.
Some people in the area reported 55 millimeters of rain in half an hour.
Rain and hail the size of a Binscarth pea pic.twitter.com/P28lz43nUZ
– @DarcyKowalchuk
Three separate power lines have broken poles, with 11 poles in total that need to be replaced, Owen said. There are also several down lines caused by fallen trees.
Hydro did not have a firm estimated time when it was hoping that electricity would be restored, as it was still assessing damage.