Environment and Climate Change Canada said the twister tore a path of destruction Saturday afternoon between the towns of Carstairs and Didsbury.
Officials vary in their estimate of homes damaged, ranging from nine to 14, with a handful completely flattened. No one was seriously hurt in the storm, although a woman was found trapped in her basement after the tornado destroyed her house as she was beneath it.
On Monday, the Northern Tornadoes Project surveyed the damage. It’s a Western University unit focused on understanding tornadoes in Canada.
“Obviously, this was a very significant event,” said Connell Miller, a survey lead with the group. He spoke Monday with Loren McGinnis on the Calgary Eyeopener.
Calgary Eyeopener7:26Mountain View County tornado
A powerful tornado destroyed homes north of Calgary over the weekend. We chat with a researcher surveying the damage.
Based on what he’s seen on the ground, Miller said the weekend tornado was likely more powerful than EF-2, categorized on the enhanced Fujita scale by wind speeds of 178 to 217 km/h.
According to Miller, roughly 95 per cent of tornadoes that touch down in Canada are rated EF-2 or less. He described these as “less severe,” although they are still powerful enough to topple trees or blow off a home’s roof.
The tornado that tore through Mountain View County on Saturday was more powerful than these, according to Miller.
“This tornado will definitely fall within that five per cent of tornadoes that are stronger than [EF-2],” he said. “Just where exactly that will fall is still to be determined.”
Miller, an engineering researcher, says his team determines the strength of a tornado by looking at the structure of the homes destroyed and figuring out how powerful the winds would need to be to topple the buildings.
Miller said his team will likely have a rating for the tornado by Tuesday morning. Should it be rated an EF-3, that would mean the winds were between 218 and 266 km/h. If an EF-4, the winds would have ranged between 267 and 322 km/h.
One of the houses destroyed in the storm belonged to Elisa Humphreys. She fled with her dog and cat just moments before her home was blown to pieces. She described the wreckage as looking like an airplane crash.
“What it is, is the total destruction of two homes that have just been shredded and spread everywhere,” she said.
Dozens of people in the local community have turned out over the past few days to help clean up the debris, which included machinery that was thrown from one property to another and large trees uprooted and downed.
Lance Douglas, of Olds, helped organize the ongoing cleanup efforts. He was driving home from Calgary with this son on Saturday when they saw the tornado’s aftermath.
“We were driving by on the highway and saw the devastation,” he said. “We knew the Alberta way is that you just go and help.”
Douglas helped start a Facebook group to organize cleanup efforts, reaching out to the property owners to understand their needs and if they wanted volunteers on their land.
“Everyone’s really happy to have volunteers that are coming out and helping, even those that didn’t [initially] want people on their farm further contacted us, and we’ve been able to send volunteers there, trucks and tools,” Douglas said.
A barbecue on Monday was held to show appreciation to the volunteers. Over the next few days, Douglas said, their efforts will be focused on moving gathered debris to the dump and bringing in large machinery to removed downed trees.
“There’s still miles of work yet to do,” he said.
Damage can be seen near Elisa Humphreys’ home. (Helen Pike/CBC)
Tornadoes in Canada
According to Miller, one of the reasons the Northern Tornadoes Project was founded was to get a better sense of the tornado climatology in Canada.
While official meteorological records indicated around 60 to 70 tornadoes a year in Canada, models suggested the figure should be significantly higher.
The reason the official figure is low, Miller said, is likely a matter of population density. Every year, a number of tornadoes touch down in areas where no one lives — and therefore aren’t reported.
“Since we’ve been founded in 2017, we’ve found that that [tornado] average is closer to 100 to 120 per year,” Miller said.
Terri Lang, a Saskatoon-based meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the tornado came out of a supercell thunderstorm.
“Supercell thunderstorms are the types of thunderstorms that form in very specific conditions,” she said. “These storms form their own environment, and they can last a very, very long time. They kind of feed on themselves, and they can travel hundreds of kilometres, producing all types of severe weather.”
Saturday’s intense heat was a factor — such warmth is required to produce a supercell. But for the formation of a tornado, the key factor is wind shear, with wind changing direction and/or speed over a short distance.
“That allows the storm to spin,” Lang said. “Once the storm is spinning, it’s capable of producing a tornado.”
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
