Pipestone cleans up after storm

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This article was published 15/07/2013 (4668 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PIPESTONE — The storm-ravaged village of Pipestone continues to pick up the pieces.

Winds from a possible tornado raced through southwestern Manitoba on Saturday evening, ripping roofs from buildings, snapping power lines, pushing trees onto cars and homes and leaving debris scattered throughout the area.

Golf ball-sized hail apparently smashed through car windows and caused substantial loss to surrounding farm crops.

No injuries were reported.

On Saturday, Pipestone residents Roger and Kathy Swanson rushed from their home to a Virden motel as the impending storm loomed over the edge of the village. They later returned to find their uninsured house in ruins.

Winds lifted the green tin roof from the partially renovated home, tossing pieces of it all over Pipestone. Portions of the roof tore through the community and landed as far as two blocks away, Roger said. Shards of twisted metal and wood from the home were seen in surrounding yards and even nestled atop nearby hydro poles.

“My neighbour said he saw the roof lift off, it went right down main street and cleared off power lines,” Roger said on Sunday.

What’s left of the property they purchased five years ago is a shell of a home, with piles of soggy insulation and broken glass scattered on the unfinished floors.

“We spent around $25,000 on the home,” Roger said as he stood in the gleaming sunlight in what remains of his new kitchen. “I got no insurance, they wouldn’t insure it because it wasn’t complete enough.

“We have to demolish the place, it’s just not worth fixing up … I guess we just have to pick through the stuff, sell what we can, save what we can, and rebuild.”

Volunteers with trucks and tractors spent Sunday dragging huge old trees through the village’s streets and into neat piles on an adjacent field. Several Manitoba Hydro workers were going to each home to make sure there was no exposed lines, while residents handed out water and sandwiches to weary workers.

Based on the reported damage and radar information, Environment Canada said it’s very likely a tornado touched down in the area.

According to meteorologist Mark Gerlyand, one witness reported a tornado 20 kilometres east of Pipestone at around 7:30 p.m. A weather station in Reston reported 42 millimetres of rain hit the area in less than an hour before the storm subsided east of Brandon, Gerlyand said

“The storm started to weaken once it hit the Morden-Winkler area,” he said.

Garry and Doreen Johnston watched from their property just outside Pipestone on Saturday evening as the storm caused their granary building to find a new resting spot more than 50 feet from its foundation.

Garry’s 14-foot empty cargo trailer was thrown 125 feet in the air and landed on its side in the neighbouring pasture. Several trees lining the roadway to the home were ripped from their roots and laid to rest on the ground.

“I got lumber scattered all through the field here,” Garry said just hours after the ordeal. “There’s tin from town and who knows where scattered all over.”

Like many homes in the area, winds peeled new shingles off their roof, allowing rain water to pour in.

Shortly after the wicked storm, farmers were seen mending fences around pastures to make sure cows didn’t escape, though at least one was seen wandering on a grid road.

Mel Irwin, 74, who has been farming near Sinclair all his life, said he hadn’t seen a storm like this since the 1960s.

Around 60 per cent of his 1000-acres of wheat, oats, barley and corn was levelled.

As the storm rolled in, hundreds of area residents were attending Pipestone Fun Days, an annual baseball tournament which was swiftly cut short after people fled for shelter.

The village’s community centre — where a social was planned on Saturday evening to cap off the day’s events — now has a gaping hole in its roof.

And the skating rink, built in 1957, is in ruins.

As the sun set through the ominous and threatening clouds over Pipestone on Saturday night, many residents stood in groups on the street in awe of the destruction.

Some stayed home as the village was swallowed into darkness, while others found asylum at friends’ houses in the area.

“It was white. It was all white. All you could see was a wall of white,” said resident Wiley Gilliard.

“It’s just a mess.”

Residents were recommended to evacuate Pipestone, though few did. Some opted to start cleaning up right away on Saturday night despite the threat of another storm.

Around 11 p.m. on Saturday, emergency crews worked to tow away a semi-trailer that flipped on Highway 2.

The storm’s wrath was the result a weather system that originated in Saskatchewan early Saturday evening, bringing with it high winds and hail.

The RM of Pipestone has been plagued by severe weather for the past several weeks.

Reston, which was flooded twice by vicious storms in five days at the end of June, was once again pumping water from streets in what’s become a familiar sight.

Reeve Ross Tycoles said a registration was held Sunday for those displaced.

According to Tycoles, Manitoba Hydro initially said it could up to a week before power is fully restored to Pipestone’s 250 residents.

Power was knocked out for about 1,000 people on Saturday night. Anthonie Koop, spokesperson for Manitoba Hydro, said power to all areas except Pipestone was restored hours after the storm.

Pipestone, which took the brunt of the damage in the area, remained without power on Sunday afternoon. However, hydro crews were working around the clock to restore power, Koop said.

“We’re focused right now in the area of Pipestone, that’s where most of the damage is,” she said.

Several poles, hydro lines, and transformers are in need of repair as a result of the storm, and Koop couldn’t say how long it will take to restore power to affected homes.

Manitoba Hydro urges area residents to treat all downed lines as live and to stay away from them.

» gbruce@brandonsun.com

Volunteers needed

Pipestone is in need of volunteers.

Anyone interested is asked to meet at the village’s recreation grounds at 9 a.m. today.

Chrissy Lambert of Reston, who is organizing volunteer work, said there’s a need for chainsaws, portable washrooms, forklifts, trucks, front-end loaders, tractors, shovels, generators and food and water.

For more information, call Lambert at 204-877-3164.

» Brandon Sun