Flooding, high winds reported after massive storm pummels north-east Sask.
Humboldt declared state of emergency, train blown off tracks near Birch Hills
People in an area between Humboldt and Birch Hills are picking up the pieces after a wicked storm blew through the area Sunday afternoon.
Teresa Simmons lives in the Brancepeth area and said there is considerable damage.
A train was blown off the tracks and a semi-trailer truck was flipped on its side on Highway 3.
"It was pretty intense, actually," she said.
"Right away it started raining and hailing, like crazy lightning every couple of seconds," she said.
Simmons said her neighbours reported baseball-sized hail. Now, people are surveying the damage after bins were blown over and trees were knocked down.
Environment Canada said the first indication of serious weather was in Humboldt, where 25 millimetres of rain fell on the area in ten minutes.
The deluge overwhelmed the city's drainage system, causing flooding and prompting the mayor to order a local state of emergency.
The high winds caused widespread blackouts in the area. SaskPower reported a number of outages related to the storm and asked people to be patient.
Wicked weather
Natalie Hasell, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada said the storm was created when a trough of low pressure travelling north ran into humid air.
"That humidity is important because that's the fuel for these storms," she said.
"Lots of juicy, energetic air that set itself up throughout Saskatchewan."
While high winds were reported, there is no evidence yet of a tornado in the area, although the supercell conditions in the area could have created one. However, Hasell said strong winds and hail can be extremely damaging on their own.
"Straight-line winds cause more than a third of the damage we see across the prairies every year and they happen a lot."
Anyone with information about the storm is asked to tweet stories or images using the hashtag #skstorm or contact Environment Canada at 1 (800) 239-0484.