“…We got off fairly lightly,” – Regional Fire Chief on Supercell Storm

Image taken in Bonnyville, Dave Bush Park

There are no reports of significant damage in the aftermath of the supercell storm that passed through the Lakeland region Saturday evening.

“Overall for having a supercell go through like that we actually got off fairly lightly,” said Brian McEvoy, Regional Fire Chief, Municipal District of Bonnyville.

McEvoy says that though there are many trees downed in the M.D. especially in Moose Lake Provincial Park. The bulk of the damage was power outages, but as of Sunday afternoon he says that everyone is back up with power in Bonnyville.

With all the precipitation, Beaver River has risen two feet. McEvoy says that situation is not dangerous.

A tornado did touch-down briefly Saturday afternoon southwest of St. Paul near Saddle Lake, said Robb Duffey, Regional Director of Emergency Services for the Region of St. Paul.

“It was in an open area so there really wasn’t any damage per se to anything. The timeline for it being on the ground was relatively short,” he said. “The storm that passed through is well passed us now.”

The only major damage in Cold Lake was a street light that got struck by lightning near the Shoppers Drug Mart on 61th avenue.

“The intersection is closed and we hope to have the intersection up and running and have the control module completely changed out. As it is fried,” said Kevin Nagoya, City Manager, Cold Lake.

Environment Canada have lifted any weather alerts for the Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul-Lac la Biche area. The forecast for the next two days calls for rain.