Many people had to hunker down for a while in southeast Saskatchewan as severe storms and potential tornados hit the area.
Through Saturday afternoon there were severe thunderstorm watches and warnings for communities in the southeast corner: Fort Qu’Appelle, Indian Head, Lumsden, Pilot Butte, Estevan, Weyburn, Radville, Milestone, Moosomin, Grenfell, Kipling, Wawota, Carlyle, Oxbow, Carnduff, Bienfait, and Stoughton areas.
There were also tornado watches and warnings for the Estevan, Weyburn, Radville, Milestone, Carlyle, Oxbow, Carnduff, Bienfait, and Stoughton areas.
Environment Canada was tracking a tornado near Carlyle that was moving to the southeast, though as of Saturday evening there was no confirmation of the tornado.
One of the hardest hit areas in the storms was the village of Manor.
Joanne Soroka was there.
“It was just kind of fast and vicious, really.”
Soroka said the storm came very quick, and only lasted about 20 to 30 minutes.
“It kinda, just all of a sudden, started raining. Then it turned into rain, hail … and more hail.”
Photo of hail in Manor, Sk. July 4 2015. Photo by @Jaaaayde1, Jayde Cassidy, on Twitter.
She said most of the hail was the size of golf balls, but some pieces were as big as baseballs. On Saturday afternoon Soroka said she was already hearing about damage to vehicles and siding from the hail.
lschick@rawlco.com
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