Emergency and city works crews responded to several incidents of storm damage late Wednesday morning following the ferocious burst of wind, rain and hail that swept through Prince Albert and area.
Environment Canada had put out a severe thunderstorm warning, and at around 9:30 the city was awash with a deluge that was accompanied by thunder, lightning, intense rain, and hail the size of peas.
Severe wind and rain lashed Prince Albert Wednesday morning.(Teena Monteleone/paNOW Staff)Trees swayed in the intense winds with reduced visibility. There were reports of tree damage across the city and crews got to work quickly on tackling some of the aftermath.
Crews were out quickly tackling the damage (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)Power was out in several areas of the city following the brief, but powerful storm.
SaskPower spokesperson Scott McGregor told paNOW five transmission lines were tripped in the city and most came back right away. By 11:30 a.m. some customers were still without power.
“We were able to able to remotely re-energize them pretty quickly, which is usually indicative of lightning strikes,” McGregor said. “At 10:01, we were able to get the last transmission line re-energized. Its the one that runs north of Prince Albert and on that line there is about 19,600 customers who would have been off temporarily.”
McGregor said they haven’t received any reports of damage on infrastructure like downed lines.
Power was briefly out in La Ronge but was promptly restored.
There were also reports of internet outages.
Environment Canada’s severe thunderstorm warning ended around 10 a.m.
paNOW heard from residents who reported major tree limbs and debris in their yards.
A tree was ripped down on Grey Owl Cres. during the intense storm. (Submitted photo)
Some areas in downtown Prince Albert experienced localized flooding from the deluge. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW)
The severe winds caused damage, as seen here at MacArthur Drive (submitted/Michael Fitch)Some locations had a layer of hail on the ground following the storm.
Hail. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)
Ripped tree on 13th Street after storm (Trevor Redden/paNOW Staff)
Localized flooding in P.A. downtown (Trevor Redden/paNOW Staff)
A twisted highway sign near the city (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)
Trees damaged in park (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)
River Street took some heavy rain in a very short period.(Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)
A truck drives along a partially flooded street (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)panews@pattisonmedia.com
