A tornado that spun through central Manitoba left residents with some harrowing experiences.
Samantha Chabbert was in her bedroom when the tornado struck her parents’ farm northwest of Notre Dame de Lourdes on the afternoon of June 25.
The 11-year-old girl watched as the roof of a hog barn in the farmyard was lifted and driven toward her window.
The tornado shifted direction before the roof plowed into the home, but Samantha’s mother, Christine Chabbert, said her daughter suffered nightmares after the incident.
“She hasn’t been able to sleep for the last two nights,” said Christine, when interviewed June 27. “She dreams about the roof coming through her window and landing on top of her.”
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Samantha was at home with her father, Norman, and her five-year-old brother. When Norman realized the danger, he got his children into the basement of the house and shielded them with his body while they waited for the tornado to pass.
The hog barn, which held 400 finisher hogs, took the brunt of the storm. The building was destroyed. Trees near the barn were also left in tatters. The house was not damaged.
Nine hogs had to be destroyed because of injuries from debris or the stress of having their shelter torn away. The remaining hogs were shipped the same day for slaughter. About a dozen more hogs died while being shipped.
The Chabberts plan to rebuild the barn, which will take at least three months. They estimate damages at more than $100,000.
Christine was thankful no one in her family was hurt. She is also grateful to the many people who arrived soon after the tornado to help in any way they could.
“Pretty much anything that had to be done, they were there to do.”
Another resident of the area also witnessed the force of the tornado.
Roof lifted
Mike Berard had heard reports of an approaching hail storm and had left work to get his RV and other belongings into a machine shed.
Soon after he had closed an overhead door on the shed, the tornado struck. The door blew out and Berard saw the roof of the building begin to lift.
“When I looked up, I saw two feet of open sky between the rafters and the top of the wall.”
His first impulse when he saw that was to get out of the building. He was fortunate the tornado had swept past before he got outside.
The roof was not completely torn away by the twister, but Berard had to put in supports to hold up the roof where it was separated from the wall.
The tornado was only part of the wicked weather that struck southern Manitoba June 25. Jagged hail the size of golf balls pelted an area between Moosomin, Sask., and Manson, Man., said Mark Melsness, an Environment Canada meteorologist.
Hail damaged crops and vehicles, and smashed windows. People reported having to shovel hail away so they could open doors to their homes, Melsness said.
A hail storm also covered a 60 kilometre stretch between Carberry and Rathwell, Man. During that storm, hail stones up to seven centimetres in diameter were reported.
