Wind storm rips through southern Alberta, flipping trucks and damaging rural properties
A major wind storm wreaked havoc on southern Alberta, toppling tractor trailers and blowing the roofs of farm buildings with some even getting completely blown away.
Debris is scattered for kilometres on both sides of Highway 2 between Stavely and Claresholm.
Environment Canada said overnight gusts along the foothills reached between 113 and 128 kilometres per hour.
For farmer Gary Benson who lives just outside Claresholm, he saw a significant amount of damage to his property.
“This is Canada, we are Canadians, you just move on, you can’t redo anything,” he said.
Benson says a building on his rural property, that is parallel with Highway 2 is a complete write off.
What used to be a warming building for sheep, is now used to store grain. He says he lost nearly half of his stock due to powerful winds.
“I’m glad I wasn’t out here trying to hold things down,” he said.
“It’s survived a lot of 100 kilometre winds, but last night, well, it definitely didn’t survive.”
Benson says the neighbouring colony recorded wind speeds of 150 kilometres per hour.
Benson says he had about 10,000 bushels worth of grain inside the building. About 4,500 were scattered across his field. One bushel is equivalent to 60 pounds or 27 kilograms of crop.
He says with nearby wildfires and a poor farming season this latest incident has him anxiously waiting for the turn of the calendar.
“You have a tough year and you add this to it,” said Benson.
“Hopefully this coming year, that’s what we live for as farmers – next year.”
In Lethbridge, homeowner Bill Smolnicky says he lost a tree that snapped in half in his yard, toppling over his apricot tree.
“That force it had last night was incredible,” said Smolnicky.
“Incredible. It’s amazing it didn’t hit the house.”
Dozens of tractor trailers along Highway 22 and Highway 2 could be seen flipped on their sides, due to the gale force winds.
The M.D of Willow Creek emergency services advised truckers on Wednesday morning to consider pulling off in High River or Nanton to the north and Fort Macleod in the south until winds abated.
The municipal district also reported power outages in the area.
Light winds are expected by Environment Canada on Wednesday evening.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.