Strong winds, hail wreak havoc on Macklin

A storm blew through Macklin on Monday evening, leaving a trail of broken trees and downed power lines in its wake.

Brian Oates, the general manager of Macklin Lake Regional Park, says the park was hit hard.

“It’s unbelievable the size of trees that came down. They didn’t get snapped off, they came out of the ground at the roots,” Oates said, estimating nearly a dozen large trees were toppled in the storm.

“Just the leaves and the twigs. It’s everywhere.”

The storm hit around 7:30 p.m. and lasted only 20 minutes. Oates said pea- to baseball-sized hail shredded the siding of his home and smashed three windows.

Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for the area, but had no reports of one touching down.

(Video of the hail hitting Brian Oates’ home Monday night)

Despite the damage, Oates considers the park lucky.

“If it would’ve been Sunday night instead of (Monday) there would’ve been some problems,” he said. “We were full.

“Where all these trees that fell, there was campers, tents, kids, there were trucks — everything. They all moved out yesterday.”

Oates didn’t have a damage estimate yet but said the clean-up will be expensive.

The park wasn’t the only place hit. The wind also tore the roof off the bar and hotel.

Owner Tom Gym said he was forced to close Tuesday until SaskPower fixes a broken power line to his business.

Environment Canada said to expect more stormy weather Tuesday afternoon with the potential of funnel clouds and tornadoes developing in east-central and southern areas.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Brent Bosker