Over 100 individuals, including families with children and pets, sought shelter in the basement of a community hall for the second consecutive night as red tornado warnings were issued on Saturday.
In an interview on Sunday morning with CBC News, Chris Stewart recounted his experience of being in Aquadeo, Sask., when the fire alarm went off once more. Aquadeo, a resort village situated 40 kilometers north of the Battlefords on Jackfish Lake, became the refuge for these individuals.
Stewart mentioned that initially, a few children were anxious, but everyone remained composed and calm throughout the situation. The basement of the hall quickly filled up with more than 100 people for both instances of seeking shelter.
More than 100 people packed into the basement of the Aquadeo, Sask., community hall for the second night in a row. They sang along with a guitar while tornado warnings lit up their phones.
Several communities in west-central Saskatchewan, including Turtleford, Glaslyn, Medstead, Edam, Paynton, Rabbit Lake, and Spiritwood, were under tornado warnings on Friday and Saturday, as confirmed by Environment Canada due to a slow-moving system merging with another system from Alberta.
Meteorologist Kyle Ziolkowski stated that while such occurrences are relatively rare, they are not unusual. He emphasized that the recent weather events were within the realm of normalcy.
The storms on Saturday brought 20 to 40 millimeters of rainfall, hail ranging from ping-pong to golf ball sizes near Neilburg, and wind gusts nearing 90 km/h close to North Battleford. While no tornado touchdowns were officially reported by Environment Canada on Saturday, the previous day saw confirmed tornado touchdowns.
Shannon Risling recounted her encounter with the tornado on Friday while she and her daughter were at Jackfish Lake’s beach, observing a wall cloud forming.
Risling shared, “She’s like, mom, we should go chasing. And I’m like, sure, let’s go.” They witnessed the tornado touching down multiple times within a short span.