EON

Mother Nature Treats Region To Display Of Might

Calgary- The storm that struck Tuesday night was one that locals have not seen in a long time, if ever.

The small community of Burdett, Alta, had trees that were torn up, uprooted, and windows blown out of buildings, roofs were missing from buildings, ripped by the wind.

Ted Dykstra, who has lived in the region for over 30 years is used to harsh summer weather, but he doesn’t ever remember having anything in the summer happen this bad.

“We saw trees flying one way then come back the other, it had to be some sort of tornado,” said Dykstra.

The survey of the area by Environment Canada surmised that a category F1 Tornado must have touched down, to the SW of Calgary, and there was unusual straight-line wind damage to the east and the south.

Gusts of wind as fast as 180 to 200 kilometres an hour are estimated to have hit the area.

The local wacky weather has made some people wonder what is happening, this is not usual weather even for Calgary, which at times has been known to have some hefty summer storms.

Data for the last several years show that the frequency and intensity of storms during the summer is increasing, and there have been several tornados or near tornados strike in the last several years.