By Nigel Maxwell

Weekend storm tears path through small hamlet and surrounding farms

Jun 15, 2020 | 12:18 PM

Marlene Coulter-Hovdebo says the storm that devastated their property sounded like a train was coming through, and there was zero visibilty.

Coulter-Hovdebo and her husband live just north of Brancepeth, one of the hardest hit areas by Sunday’s storm. She told paNOW when the sky suddenly turned dark, she and her husband did their best to fill up some water bottles to prepare for a power outage and then went straight to the basement, where they watched the storm through the windows.

“[The storm] was so very loud and we couldn’t see anything it was just white. There was hail hitting and there were trees snapping, but we couldn’t see anything,” she said.

(Facebook/ Marlene Coulter-Hovdebo)

The storm lasted roughly five minutes, and when the coast was clear, Coulter-Hovdebo and her husband went outside to assess the damage. They immediately noticed pieces of yellow insulation lying around the yard. After a taking a closer look, they discovered a section of their roof was missing, and there was water pouring in. The couple immediately called their closest friends for help. Within about 20 minutes, nearly 50 people showed up in the driveway.

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“They brought tote containers and boxes and garbage bags and they came with rain coats and covered trailers and they literally emptied out our house before it got full of water damage,” she said.

In addition to the damage to the house, several buildings and bins on the property were also blown over. Despite all the damage, the couple was fortunately not hurt and Coulter-Hovdebo is feeling grateful for that.

“I’d much rather organize a clean up crew than a funeral,” she said.

Large trees were uprooted on many properties, like they were carrots. (Facebook/ Sarah Strautman)

Lexi Thompson and her family live about eight miles north of Brancepeth. The stom ruined the siding on their house, uprooted some big trees, and either knocked over or damaged some grain bins.

“We actually went down to the basement because of the sound of the hail hitting. We thought, ‘is it going to come through,’” she said.

Thompson, who has two young children, admitted it was difficult keeping them calm, as well as calming her own nerves.

“You’re kind of a little scared but kind of in awe of it,” she said. “It’s one of those once in a lifetime situations.”

The Rural Municipality of Birch Hills has declared a state of emergency, which will help speed up the delivery from the province of any equipment or supplies. Reeve Alan Evans toured Brancepeth Sunday night and said the roof of the hamlet’s pump house has been lost.

“We havent talked to PDAP (Provincial Disaster Assistance Program) yet but there may be some assistance from them but that has yet to be determined,” he said.

(Facebook/ Larry Markowski)

One of the shocking photos from Sunday’s storm shows several rail cars complelety blown off the track. Evans said the cars belong to Northern Lights Rail and were sitting in storage at the time.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell