Tornado causes damage at farm near Cremona

Mother Nature dealt a bout of nasty weather Saturday as rain, hail and tornadoes were reported in southern Alberta.

In Calgary, afternoon showers sent the folk festival crowd ducking for cover at Prince's Island Park.

Rural Alberta was hit harder by the summer storm as it rolled east across the province.

Tornadoes were reported about 30 kilometres north of Cochrane near Highway 22 and by the hamlet of Gem, about 150 kilometres east of Calgary.

Michelle Satchwell watched one twister land on her 1,500-acre farm near Cremona.

The swift gust destroyed one building, pushed granaries and ripped the roof off her mother-in-law's house.

"It peeled (the roof) off and put it on another hill," Satchwell said.

"It was all over within 45 seconds or a minute."

At least $100,000-worth of damage was done to the ranch, according to Satchwell.

And although she acknowledged being overwhelmed by the wreckage, Satchwell was comforted by neighbourly sprit.

About 30 Good Samaritans rushed to help tack plywood, tarp the roof, and tidy up around the farm.

"There's a great group of community-spirited people who live in the country," she said.

Officials could not confirm the tornado near Cremona, but said radar signatures showed rotating storms.

"Chances are pretty likely it was a tornado," said Andy Young, a metrologist with Environment Canada.

Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for the County of Newell near Brooks and Wheatland County close to Hussar.

Another tornado was reported east of Calgary near Gem, but Young could not confirm it.

Elsewhere, much of southern Alberta was pelted by rain and hail as the storm moved east to Saskatchewan.

"It's July in Alberta," Young said. "You have conditions that are ripe to produce thunderstorms."

Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued Saturday in Rocky View County by Beiseker; Wheatland County around Strathmore; the Siksika reserve; Cypress County near Cypress Hills Provincial Park; Forty Mile County by Orion; Municipal district of Provost near Bondo; and Special Area No. 4 around Consort.

Residents in Drumheller, Hanna and Three Hills were also put under a severe thunderstorm watch.

All advisories in southern Alberta were cleared Saturday by 9 p.m.

bweismiller@ calgaryherald.com

? Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F233/~3/Ym8cKzpEVNU/story.html

lauren scruggs william shatner seattle weather skier sarah burke gingrich wife cheryl burke sarah burke