Manitoba farmer picks up pieces after devastating storm

The storm that tore the roof off Craig Aitchison's garage sounded like a freight train running through his yard.

"The roof lifted off the garage and flipped over," said Aitchison, who farms near Foxwarren, Man., not far from the Saskatchewan border.

"It lasted about 15 minutes and then it wasn't till it sort of cleared, then I noticed all the grain bins that were destroyed and blown apart."

A major storm brought strong winds and heavy rain across a large swath of southwestern Manitoba and the Interlake on June 19. Environment Canada issued tornado watches for the region, although there were no reports of a tornado touching down.

That didn't stop the wind from causing major damage.

Winds that sometimes gustedto more than 100 km/hripped parts off buildings, uprooted trees and knocked out power to thousands of people.Four 24,000-bushel grain bins and several hopper-bottom bins blew over on Aitchinson's farm.

The damage adds to an already tough spring, with seeding delayed by the late spring, he said.

"We've got to get all these bins replaced, because this is all my grain storage, and we have to get them all replaced before harvest."

Vailla Butler, who lives a couple of kilometres outside Foxwarren, which is about 300 kilometres west of Winnipeg, said the storm on Sunday was unlike anything elseshe has seen in the 15 years she has lived in the area.

"Trees were uprooted. Shingles were flying off the houses right to the bare wood. Sheds were being torn apart and tossed around the yard. Farmers' granaries were rolling right across the farmers' fields. It was pretty crazy," she said.

On a neighbouring property, the wind flipped a large camper trailer.

People in the community are beginning to clean up the damage, she said, including members of the nearby Hutterite colony who took their machines into town to help pull fallen trees out of the way.

Aitchison said he has insurance, but there are so many claims in his area, it will be a while before someone can assess the damage.

His house still did not have power restored on Monday evening. His family moved into a camper, which has a generator, he said.

"I was tempted just to up and leave here, come back in a couple of weeks, but I don't think anything will change. So I might as well stay and fix her up."

Wicked wind causes heavy damage near Foxwarren, Man.

2 years ago

Duration 0:58

Videos and photos show the aftermath of a major storm that uprooted trees and tore off parts of buildings in southwestern Manitoba on Sunday.