Environment Canada investigating Sundre, Alta. tornado as cleanup continues

Thursday's tornado south east of Sundre left more than a 1.5 kilometre path of flattened property and trees, but no injuries.

The twister is now under investigation by Environment Canada which had meteorologists on site Friday mapping the damage and investigating the magnitude of the storm.

"You know there's so much we do know and so much we don't know about tornadoes," said Sara Hoffman, an Environment Canada meteorologist. "It's kind of incredible how they can cause damage in multiple places and still be one consistent tornado, they can cause extreme damage right next to very little damage."

One family was lucky to escape the storm. Chris Mariak was with his four and seven-year-old daughters visiting his parents when they went outside to see the lightning.

"I seen the storms heading right toward each other and when they collided they started swirling," Mariak said. "Then you could hear a big 'WHOOSH' really loud. It was an unforgettable sound."

(Supplied/Alberta RCMP)

After watching the funnel cloud appear to touch down multiple times, the adults talked over their situation quickly. Their home is set on a pad and has no basement. They decided to get in their vehicles and make a run for it down a lease road that led them away from the rapidly-approaching storm.

They made it with seconds to spare.

"You coud see in the rear view mirror the big funnel and it basically touched down right behind us," Mariak said. "You could see tree branches flying across the road."

FLATTENED TREES

Few trees are left standing on their property, many splintered and laid flat by the tornado.

Less than a kilometre away another property took the worst of the severe weather event, completely destroying several buildings including at least one home. Pieces of fibreglass insulation were visible hanging from power lines while trailers and bits of metal roofing were scattered through hundreds of metres of splintered forests.

Chainsaws could be heard almost constantly everywhere in the area of Township Road 320 and Range Roads 44 and 45 for much of the day Thursday.

Environment Canada said this year's significant rainfall has left more of the raw material to create severe thunderstorms and tornadoes compared to last year.

In 2021 dry and often smoky conditions helped limit the number of tornadoes in the province to just three. Alberta averages 10 each year.

If a severe storm with tornado potential is approaching head to the basement and find the most secure and heavily built room, preferably away from exterior walls.

(Supplied/Alberta RCMP)

Despite the rules, as the Mariak family learned, it still pays to keep making decisions and realize there is no one answer for every situation.

"Keep your wits about you be watching the sky and when you see those clouds rapidly developing getting darker very quickly, the swirling, to really trust your gut," said Hoffman.