CARSTAIRS-CREMONA-DIDSBURY-MVC -
A severe windstorm on May 24 resulted in considerable damage in the area and knocked out the power to many residences.
Local insurance companies reported numerous home and business owners calling in to make claims.
Among those people hit hard in the area were Angela Blacquiere and her husband Shane who co-own and operate the Didsbury Motel and Country Nook Restaurant.
Blacquiere said that the storm blew part of the roof off from the west side of the motel.
"At around 4 p.m. we were in the office watching debris fly by and wondering where it was coming from," said Blacquiere.
"My husband went out to check the side of the building. When he went out the roof flipped and almost hit him. Our west side roof, a quarter section of it, flipped and landed on the roof of our suite. Part of it broke off and landed on my husband's motorcycle."
Blacquiere said the couple has been doing damage control since the storm.
"We had water pouring in from everywhere," she said. "It was pouring in the whole place like a waterfall."
Blacquiere said they had to move a couple of tenants to the east side of the motel.
"We were glad no one got hurt," she said. "We were very fortunate. The fire department was amazing. They showed up within 10 minutes and blocked off the road and tied down our roof. It was flapping and you could hear it lifting and smashing."
Greg Skotheim, manager of public works and infrastructure with the Town of Didsbury, said that there was quite a bit of damage throughout the town as a result of the storm.
"We had five boulevard/town trees damaged," said Skotheim. "We had a lot of big branches down. We had two of our (baseball) dugouts pulled out. The wind caught and pulled out the anchors."
Skotheim said that town crews have been busy going around and fixing the damages.
Carl McDonnell, CAO of Carstairs, said that town experienced a number of power outages and damaged trees during the storm.
"It wasn't too bad," McDonnell said regarding the damage. "We had three trees down on public land but no real damage to them or the cemetery. The headstones there fell perfectly. That helped. Mostly branches, leaves, debris, garbage cans."
McDonnell said there was no damage to any of the town buildings and no roads were blocked.
"There was nothing that was impassable," he said. "Because of the power outage we had the backup power going at the pumphouse so that we still had all the water, sewer systems and lift stations going."
Luanne Smith, CAO of Cremona, told the Gazette that the village was not affected very much by the storm.
"I know our rural residents were, but in town we were OK," said Smith. "I heard of some power outages in some farms surrounding us but in the village we didn't have any issues."
She also said she wasn't aware of any trees having fallen or other damage.
Gordon Ironside, owner of Ironside Insurance Brokers Ltd. in Carstairs, said about 30 area homeowners, farmers and ranchers called in to report damage to buildings and other properties following the storm.
"Mostly grain bins toppled over and the odd hay tarp shed that has been ripped back," said Ironside. "We've had no pole construction hay sheds go over like we had a few years ago when we had about 10 of those.
"With the residential type structures in town and out in the country, five or six shingles blown off and pieces of siding ripped off."
The wind caused almost all of the problems, he noted.
"We've had reports of a few minor leaks because shingles got pealed off, but nothing substantial (as far as water damage) at all," he said.
Last week's storm damage was certainly minor compared to past incidents in the region, he said.
"It's not minor for the ones that have sustained the damage, but it's nothing like the 2009 hailstorm. That was a disaster, with thousands of claims."
"At around 4 p.m. we were in the office watching debris fly by and wondering where it was coming from."Angela Blacquiere
