The wild two-hour lightning storm brought heavy rain and wind at around 10:15 p.m. The sign at the e

Linda and Raymond Herbert's farm yard was trashed by Monday nights' storm that blew through 3 kilometers north of North Battleford, June 26, 2012 Many friends and neighbors arrived at the site early in the morning to help begin with the clean up. Photograph by: Gord Waldner
NORTH BATTLEFORD AND SASKATOON -- Power outages are ongoing and residents are assessing the damage after severe thunderstorms hit North Battleford, Prince Albert and other parts of northern Saskatchewan Monday night.
Linda was watching car rentals calgary canada the storm roll in from her living room Monday night. The roaring got so loud, she took her daughter and two grandsons, age 3 and 7, into the basement, where they cowered in the shower for about half an hour. Hovered there, they heard banging and roaring from above, and later, the sound of water rushing.
When they returned to the main floor, car rentals calgary canada much of the roof was gone, and several centimetres of water had accumulated in the kitchen. It was rushing down the stairs into the couple's newly-renovated basement.
Supporters had descended on the family's property by early Tuesday morning, stretching tarps over the roof, and cutting up and hauling away the remains of felled trees. At least 30 trees had been cut up and hauled off by mid-afternoon, Linda said.
A relative brought a camper for the family to stay in, and they must keep a watchful eye to make sure no one loots their property, Linda said. Watching more storms roll in Tuesday afternoon was nerve-racking, she said.
Across the city of North Battleford Tuesday, the buzz of chainsaws is ubiquitous. Trees are broken, and branches litter the streets, boulevards and ditches. Trucks hauling broken branches are everywhere.
It was nasty, North Battleford councillor Brad Pattinson car rentals calgary canada said of the storm. It certainly blew down a tremendous amount of trees. Lots of houses with the shingles ripped off. There's a lot of activity for chainsaws and stuff this morning. The lightning show was pretty amazing.
The wild two-hour lightning storm brought heavy rain and wind at around 10:15 p.m. The sign at the east entrance to North Battleford was knocked over. Trees were down on vehicles on a number of streets.
Power went out at about 1 a.m. in Prince Albert, and was still out as of Tuesday afternoon, Hopson said. Several power poles and a transmission line are down. It could take 48 hours to restore power to the Prince Albert area, he said.
According to a recorded message at a SaskPower call centre, other places car rentals calgary canada affected include the La Ronge area, Kerrobert, car rentals calgary canada Luseland, Unity, Dodsland, Plenty, Cut Knife, Scott, Wilkie, Macklin, and Tramping Lake.
"They're trying to come up with estimate times but they are unclear. Of course, they have been working all night, so there are things like shift changes that have to happen to allow some crews to rest up and be safe while they work."
As of Tuesday morning power had been restored to some parts of North Battleford and Meadow Lake, Hopson said. It could take 18-24 hours to get all power up and running in Meadow Lake, Hopson estimated.
Prince Albert Police Sgt. Kelly McLean said lights are working at three intersections - 15th Street and Second Avenue, 15th Street and Sixth Avenue, and Marquis Road and Second Avenue - which helps immensely.
Although the City of Prince Albert is making plenty car rentals calgary canada of drinking water, Scarrow is pleading with residents to minimize their water use, as the power outage has halved the capacity of the waste water treatment car rentals calgary canada plant.
"We have rallied our emergency waste water treatment plant and water treatment plant crew in a command headquarters and are covering all of the bases, Scarrow said Tuesday. We're currently rotating generators, staff and septic trucks to monitor car rentals calgary canada and remove any excess that occurs at the lift stations. Those crews were up all night and were monitoring these situations."
There was some damage in PA, Scarrow said, citing car rentals calgary canada the odd tree down. McLean said there was a fire and partial roof collapse at an apartment building. car rentals calgary canada The mobile crisis unit was at the building, helping car rentals calgary canada to find shelter for displaced residents, he said.
"It was terrible, she said. I woke up in the middle of the night and it was raining and a bunch of wind, and then the hail hit. Oh my God, it was huge, it was grape size or bigger. The storm went on for about half an hour."
The weather-related damage also affected travel on some provincial highways, particularly in the North Battleford area, says highways ministry spokesperson Doug Wakabayashi. A downed power line has detoured traffic on Highway 378 north of North Battleford. The westbound lanes of Highway 16 west of The Battlefords were closed for a few hours early Tuesday morning after wind blew the roof off a nearby barn, and took out a power line, Wakabayashi said.
Some communities have also lost telephone and cellular service. SaskTel spokesperson Michelle Englot said several communities near PA - Leoville, Missinippi, McPhee Lake, Meath Park, Shell Lake and Spiritwood car rentals calgary canada - have lost phone service. Rabbit Lake and Paradise Hill, which are in the North Battleford area, have also lost service. The service does have backup batteries, but those batteries only last for eight hours, she said. Backup generators are now en route to Meath Park, Spiritwood, Shell Lake, and Paradise Hill to help restore phone and Internet service, hopefully car rentals calgary canada by early this evening, she said.
John Paul Cragg, a severe weather specialist with Environment Canada, says the agency received reports of flooding, hail, and strong winds that may have been tornadoes from several locations across central and northern Saskatchewan after Monday night's storms.
Flash floods were reported in Kindersley, North Battleford, and Prince Albert. Baseball-sized hail fell in North Battleford, he said. Environment Canada received reports of downed trees, wind damage, and vehicles pummeled by hail.
We've got weather watches car rentals calgary canada up for the west and southwest, car rentals calgary canada and weather warnings around Cypress Hills and near Swift Current. It looks like it's going to be pretty car rentals calgary canada severe, Cragg said. The city of Saskatoon was subject to a tornado watch as of early Tuesday afternoon.
"I heard a boom! And I thought, 'Wow that thunder car rentals calgary canada is getting close'. It is was really loud," said Allen, who was woken out of bed around midnight by the storm. "I came back around to the kitchen window and my jaw dropped. car rentals calgary canada I couldn't believe it. (The tree) was lying down."
car rentals calgary canada On Tuesday afternoon, another car rentals calgary canada set of thunderstorms dumped about five centimetres of rain on Davidson. It came down quickly, and the streets were full of water, said resident Susan Wakefield. The sewer system car rentals calgary canada was having trouble keeping up with the deluge, she said.
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Previous Next     Linda and Raymond Herbert's farm yard was trashed by Monday nights' storm that blew through 3 kilometers north of North Battleford, June 26, 2012 Many friends and neighbors arrived at the site early in the morning to help begin with the clean up. Photograph by: Gord Waldner, The StarPhoenix