Rebuilding and recovery continues one year after wind storm near Medicine Hat, Alta.

Eddie Doehring's house, shop and corrals were damaged by the wind storm near Medicine Hat, Alta., on July 18, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE -

It's been one year since a wind storm tore through a group of properties west of Medicine Hat, Alta.

The storm caused millions of dollars in damage and impacted more than 20 homes.

"From today, it doesn't feel like a year. ... It seems like it just happened because you relive it every day," said Eddie Doehring.

Doehring's house, shop and corrals were damaged by the wind storm on July 18, 2022.

At home during the storm, Doehring recalls a tree branch puncturing a hole in his roof, leaving part of it visible from inside his kitchen.

"Everything was destroyed," Doehring told CTV News on Tuesday.

"All my buildings, corrals, greenery, everything was blown away. My house was destroyed. It was the only thing left standing."

Since the storm, Doehring has been picking up the pieces to rebuild his livelihood.

But he says issues with his insurance company haven't made the process easy.

"The clean up, I did most of it because they were sending people out of Calgary and by the time they drove here, walked around for a few hours and drove back, they really didn't get anything done," he said.

"So, I just worked all last summer and last fall with my bobcat, getting everything cleaned up the best I could."

He estimates the rebuild and damages have cost between $700,000 and $800,000.

The storm covered a wide area along Highway 523, with winds reaching upward of 130 kilometres an hour.

Forecasters say weather patterns in Alberta are different this year, with some areas getting more moisture, others less.

Terri Lang with Environment and Climate Change Canada says Alberta has seen a lot of severe weather this summer starting in May, and it could last all the way through to September.

"We don't know what's going to happen for the rest of the summer," Lang said.

"We can't forecast to that scale."

Other homes in the area have since been rebuilt or restored.

Cypress County applied for the Provincial Disaster Recovery Program for funding for both municipal and personal uninsurable damage.

However, in February, the application was rejected.

The county appealed the decision but in June, that appeal was denied.

Doehring is still working on recovery.

"The insurance company, I'm dealing with them, trying to get them to at least cover some of it," he said.

"But if not, I just have to slowly do what I can on my own because I've invested everything I had and could borrow in my new shops."