Family home ‘torn apart’ near Alida
Two people escaped injury by fleeing to the basement of a house north of Alida as the building was destroyed by a tornado Wednesday evening.
Riley Anthony, a storm chaser who is originally from Alida, said he spoke with the woman who lives at the home. Anthony said two people were in the house when the tornado struck. No one was hurt, but the home was heavily damaged and its roof is gone.
“They were home when they saw it coming, and when it got closer they went to the basement,” said Anthony, who took photos of the damage.
“They’re sitting in their yard just wondering what to do next. Their home was torn apart,” he said.
Anthony said the home is located five to eight kilometres north of Alida. Carlyle RCMP said was dispatched to the home at 9:18 p.m.
Anthony said community members have been pulling together to help the homeowner in any way they can.
“She was actually touched by the community support she received. We’re a small community and we take pride in community support, and when word got around people went out. People are offering what they have to help out,” said Anthony.
Environment Canada confirms that a tornado touched down last evening in southeastern Saskatchewan.
Meteorologist Bryan Van Wilgenburg says the twister was spotted near Alida, about 40 kilometres from the Manitoba-Saskatchewan boundary.
He says video from the scene shows debris being flung from the base of the swirling cloud — enough to indicate a funnel cloud had touched down.
Van Wilgenburg says the system that spawned the tornado took shape east of Carlyle and also produced hail the size of baseballs before rolling into southwestern Manitoba.
Milder weather conditions are expected across most of Saskatchewan today.