What began as a warm and sunny day in Brooks, high., Wednesday, he quickly turned when an unpleasant hail storm tear, wrinkling and knocking out electric lines and damaging cars, houses and crops.
“Suddenly, the winds emerged and came quickly,” said Brooks Mayor John Petrie.
He said he watched from inside his house how the hail “of the size of a golf ball
Colleen Foisy said hail sounded as shots, since he hit his house in Brooks, calling the storm unlike everything he has seen in the 18 years he has lived there.
“The whole front of the house is destroyed,” said Foisy. “The front fence was actually torn from the cemented posts. My flowers in my garden were thrown, tree branches. There is hail damage throughout my truck that is only one year. The cover of my boat was crushed.”
The images show some transmission towers near the city folded by the storm, and others flattened to the ground. Fortis Alberta said the teams returned to work in first light on Thursday to evaluate damage and work in repairs. Approximately 1,000 clients were listed as still without energy on the company’s website starting Thursday morning.
Environment Canada said a “Quick Movement Supercell Traced in the south of Alberta, bringing significant and harmful wind bursts and hail the size of a golf ball. “The department estimated maximum wind bursts of 113 km/h in Brooks.
Highway 1 in the direction of this near Brooks remained closed on Thursday with a detour through highway 36, according to Alberta 511, with an open lane on the west direction on highway 1.
The Brooks Fire Department says it was called to eight incidents, including motor vehicles collisions. In a publication on Facebook, the department says that the priority was demolished in the electric lines in the area of highway 1 and the 36th highway in Newell County, and that people catch a safe place in their vehicles.
Truck collected, turned by storm
That is the same area as Coleman Waddell was driving just after 5 pm on Wednesday, trying to beat the storm and get home in Brooks. Instead, he found himself right in the middle.
“I was driving north, and suddenly the wind picked up, threw my truck and I was looking south,” Waddell said.
He said that Hail had already exploded the windows on the driver’s side of his truck when he led to a ditch to cover, then Soil broke the windows on the passenger side.
He went out and lay next to the truck, holding his running table when the storm passed, anxiously fearing that his truck could turn over him.
“I felt like an hour, but it was probably only 15 minutes,” said Waddell, who stayed with bruises for the test.
He said that while he was worried about his own security, he was more concerned about his wife, who was driving about three minutes ahead of him. But she came home safe, without hail damage to her vehicle.
Riley UntilA lot of time Storm hunterHe observed how the storm on Wednesday night accelerated what he described as a “classic alberta foothills Supercell“At dangerous winds whipping at road speeds.
While driving through the storm, he soon discovered that he had to stop for his own safety due to the powerful winds and the lack of visibility around him.
“I could feel the full frame of the vehicle,” Until saying. “There were at least one or twice when the vehicle’s platform could feel a bit and then go down again.
“It was something that I have not seen in Alberta in a long time.”
2 animals killed in Fun Farm
The hail storm demolished fences in White Barn Fun Farm, west of Brooks, sending scattered animals, according to the owner and manager of the farm, Melissa Jackson. She said two animals were killed by debris, and a horse and some birds were injured.
“Unfortunately we lost a five -year -old Bactrian camel and a pony that were best friends, and they died together,” Jackson said.
She said they are in “survival mode” while working to put animals to rest, handle insurance and clean the messy consequences. She does not anticipate that they will open to customers this season, which will generally extend until October.
“It’s a lot of fences to repair. The barn is shattered; the paint is out of it. The windows are destroyed,” Jackson said. “And emotionally, we are very distressed.”
