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Observer Volume 79 • No. 5
PM40011904
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Friday, June 19th, 2015
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Short-lived storm causes wide swath of damage Lynne Bell Observer Staff
A short-lived but intense storm swept across this corner of southeast Saskatchewan on the evening of Friday, June 12 causing widespread damage to homes, vehicles and crops. During its 15-minute duration,the storm left many without power, and produced large hailstones and intense winds which broke the windows of many area homes and vehicles, pitting siding and leaving streets carpeted in branches and leaves. Martin Kilbuck, whose home on Stockton Avenue in Carlyle sustained broken windows and damaged siding-in some parts right down to his trailer’s insulation-said, “At first, I thought someone was knocking on the door really loudly. But when I looked outside, it was hailing pretty good. The hail I saw was pea-size to loonie-sized.” “It only went on for about 10 to 15 minutes, but it was enough to do damage.” Student Victoria Flynn lives on 6th Street in Carlyle and was home alone when the storm hit. “I was pretty scared. It was so loud. We had two front windows on our house broken and a whole bunch of damage to the front of the house.” Trent Johnson’s who lives on Riddell Bay says, “My front window was smashed, the siding on the west side of the house was destroyed, the boat cover has holes everywhere and the Bell dish is broken.” Allan and Sylvia Thomas of Country Garden Greenhouse in Carlyle had to suspend business for an entire year while they rebuilt after the green house was levelled during the storm of July 2008. “The damage to the greenhouse this time is bad,” says Sylvia. “Because we’ll have to replace the plastic that forms the roofs and walls of all four greenhouses. They are pitted with holes from the hailstones.” “But we feel so bad for all of our customers. So many of them have been planting and working so hard to have nice yards for grad.” “We really feel as though we got off lucky,” adds Thomas. “Unlike the last storm in 2008, we didn’t lose a business for a year. But we’re going to wait until the fall to replace the coverage of all four of our greenhouses, in case there are more storms like this. I hope not.”
Photo submitted by Regi Maher
The storm was intense, but short-lived and was not confined to the Carlyle area, as this photo taken near Arcola demonstrates.
Allan and Sylvia Thomas of Carlyle’s Country Garden Greenhouse display some of the hail that caused widespread damage to their business during a brief but damaging storm on Friday, June 12. The couple will have to replace the plastic that covers all of the walls and roofs from four greenhouses.
Staff photo by Lynne Bell
C LYL CARLYLE L • WAWOTA O A
Pictured is one of the many large hailstones that caused widespread damage in the area. This one, photographed by a Carlyle resident, is compared to a toonie.