LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. -- Southern Albertans were cleaning up Thursday after a serious windstorm made its way through the region Wednesday causing substantial property damage and wiping out power for more than 1,000 people.
Taber was hit particularly hard by blustery winds which at times gusted up to about 130 km/h.
Taber Fire Chief Steve Munshaw told CTV his department received 26 alarms throughout the course of Wednesday’s storm. No injuries were reported.
Taber resident Tatiana Johnson said she knew the wind was aggressive, but didn’t realize there was enough force to rip a 7.62 metre (25 foot high) tree out of the ground that ended up crushing her car.
“It was an extensive shock. Like, you wouldn’t think that would happen," she said. "It was just pure shock.”
Johnson said she’s currently working with her insurance agent and has heard from dozens of other residents sharing kind words of support.
Despite the unfortunate event, she added that she’s grateful that none of her family members were injured when the tree came down.
“We were also worried that it could have fallen on us when we were coming home because just previous to it falling, I had been out and about. I’m just thankful that it didn’t happen when we were walking to our back door.”
Emergency kit
Lethbridge Emergency Preparedness Manager Luke Palmer said Wednesday’s extreme weather is a good reminder on the importance of having an emergency kit.
“Make sure that those kits are up-to-date but, also include your pets in those as well. You might be trapped at home, you might have to evacuate, and that will include your companion animals as well.”
Roughly 25 per cent of Lethbridge was without power for periods of Wednesday’s storm. The city’s downtown core was primarily affected.
“ The grid is designed across Canada to always be able to survive the loss of a single circuit, however this was an extremely rare event impacting two independent key assets, almost simultaneously," Palmer said.
A follow-up investigation by the City of Lethbridge suggests the reason for the widespread outages was due to fierce wind causing power lines to slap together resulting in power flow swings as well as fallen trees taking out power lines.
