Arena damaged by storm in Foxwarren, Man., might not be repaired in time to reopen this winter

An arena in tiny Foxwarren, Man., wrecked by a storm that ripped off a section of its roof, might not be ready to reopen in time for hockey season this winter, leaving residents without their only community gathering place.

Stormy weather rolled through the small community, located just south of Russell near the Saskatchewan border, and peeled the cladding off the rink's roof on Sunday.

Scott Wotton, a board member at Foxwarren Arena, told CBC News Monday that an assessment of the damages will determine whether the arena's roof cover and rafters were the only parts of the building compromised during the storm, or if further repairs are needed before it can opento the public again.

With only a few weeks left before the start of hockey, skating and figure skating programming in early October, it is unclear whether the arena will be ready on time.

"It could ruin the hockey season this year,"Wotton said.

The arena has the only rink in the community, andwhile there are other rinks with artificial and natural ice close to Foxwarren, they are only accessible bycar,Wotton said.

"Hopefully, we can get things fixed back up in time," he said.

Wind gusts of 90 to 110 km/h hitthe southwestern Manitoba community on Sunday morning. A meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada previously told CBC News the storm was a "bow echo,"so-named because it's shaped like an archer's bow on radar. The intense storms arenot uncommon on the Prairies.

As the winds picked up, Wotton said small trees were toppledand branches were scattered through Foxwarren, where fewerthan 100 people live. However, the only severe structural damage reportedin the community was atthe town's hockey rink.

"It made quite a mess of our arena here in town," he said.

Cleanup ofthe debris left by the storm, including the ripped-off roof pieces that closed part of Highway 475, is underway on Monday.

The arena's boardis waiting for avisit from aninsurance company representativewho can inspect the building and estimate a timeline for the repairs.

Until then, residents have been told to stay out of the arena.

"It's got to be fixed before anything goes on there now," Danny Johnston, a Foxwarren resident, saidMonday.

"I can't see it being ready for this winter for hockey and stuff. It's too late in the year."

Johnston said the arena rink is the only place residents can gather in the small community. Summer events as well as winter sports programming are held at the rink.

"Everybody is kind of devastated and sad," Wotton said.

"It's going to be a big hole in our community, for sure."

'Never seen anything like it': campground owner

Severalvehicles and RV'swere also damaged on Sunday morning as the storm hit a campground on Lake of the Prairies, just west of Riding Mountain National Park near the Saskatchewan border.

Jodi Digby, owner of Pyott's campground, told CBC News at least 85 guests were at the campsite when a heavy downpour and strong wind gusts rolled through, bending trees sideways and snapping branches that smashed through the windows of some vehicles.

"I've never seen anything like it, to be honest," she said.

One of the trees toppled over a truck, and at the time the truck's owner wasinside a camper that was later smashed by another downed tree.

"It [the downed tree] came down in the kitchen and knocked his cupboards off," Digby said. "He miraculously was just in the bedroom and so he was safe."

A mature tree was also uprooted, falling close to the campground's diner, and was only stopped by the branch of another tree, whichprevented the toppled tree from wrecking one of the site's powerlines.

"We were all mostly in shock, running on adrenaline and making sure everybody was okay," Digby said, adding it will take at least aweek to clean up all the downed trees.