A storm that ripped through Waskesiu on Saturday left vehicles and RVs damaged by fallen trees.
According to Parks Canada, the storm hit around 8:30 p.m. – the same line of storms that caused damage in communities across north-central Saskatchewan, including North Battleford, Nipawin and Meadow Lake.
Parks Canada staff and firefighters began response immediately, which included clearing trees and debris from main roads in the townsite and campgrounds.
Curtis Howie and his family were staying in the Beaver Glen campground.
Howie said they were in the townsite for ice cream when his dad warned them of the incoming storm.
“By the time we got to the campsite, the wind was blowing and it was looking pretty scary in the campground,” he said.
“You could hear the cracks of trees bending and breaking, so we kind of closed things down as best we could and hopped in our car and left.”
As they were driving away, a tree fell beside the vehicle, scuffing the side with branches.
“It was apparent that it wasn’t safe in the campground, so we drove back to town and waited the storm out in town away from trees,” he said.
When they returned to their campsite at about 10:30 p.m., they were surprised to find no further damage.
“We were pretty lucky.”
However, Howie said, there were several vehicles and RVs that became trapped under large trees. Trees were also blocking main roads in the townsite, but those were swiftly cleared, he added.
Parks Canada said both the Beaver Glen and Red Deer campgrounds had trees fall on RVs.
According to the Environment Canada warning issued on Saturday evening, the line of thunderstorms stretched from west of Prince Albert to west of Saskatoon, travelling east.
Environment Canada said the line of storms could produce “very strong wind gusts, nickel to ping pong ball size hail and heavy rain.”
According to Parks Canada, the fire department responded to several power lines down in town. The townsite had no power between 8:30 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.
SaskPower said there were also outages caused by the storm in Nipawin, Tobin Lake, Choiceland and Carrot River.
The Dam Smokehouse in Nipawin said the business experienced a gas line break and a make-up air unit tore off of the building’s foundation.
