Carrot River declares state of emergency after destructive storm

The Town of Carrot River is cleaning up a mess of destruction in the wake of what was believed to be a massive plow wind that came through their community on June 23.

The Town of Carrot River Town Council declared a state of emergency at noon the following day and activated an Emergency Operations Centre.

On June 23, Environment Canada issued a tornado watch for several parts of central Saskatchewan, including Prince Albert, Battlefords, and Saskatoon. In Northeast Saskatchewan, several areas were issued a tornado alert and were advised to take immediate cover in a basement or interior room. 

A spokesperson for Environment Canada said they can not confirm a tornado touched down until an investigation occurs. Due to the time of the day and the extent of the damage, the spokesperson said it was more probable that it was a straight-line wind or plow wind, with no sightings to confirm a tornado touched down. The spokesperson said that plow winds can be just as damaging as a tornado and, in some cases, cause more damage because plow winds can cover a larger area, and some plow winds can be classified up to an EF 1 or 2 tornado.  

Community Development Manager Miranda Blaber said the Town of Carrot River has been working together to clean up the destruction, including a restaurant roof torn off by the wind.

“Several trees are down and lots of debris is scattered. The Town of Carrot River’s community hall also lost half of their roof during the storm,” said Blaber. 

Local Shelly White said, “I’ve never seen or heard of a storm like this. The wind roared, and it was just unbelievably loud.”

White said the storm came around 11:30 p.m. and lasted about 30 minutes.  

Blaber said that the Rural Municipality (RM) of Moose Range No. 486, which borders the town, offered its help with equipment and whatever needs are required, as well as other organizations within the community.  

The Town of Carrot River has set up a storm cleanup area with a large dumpster at the skating rink, hall tourist booth and water treatment plant. The tree dump is open for any fallen trees one mile north on the west side of the highway.  

Power is out to the entire community. The town office is closed for services but is open with a staff on site for communications. 

The Carrot River Community School closed on June 24 but exams for senior classes proceeded as usual.

This story was originally published in the Humboldt Journal. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.