As Regina picked up the pieces Thursday from a devastating Alberta Clipper, people in southern areas outside the city were dealing with equal impacts caused by the blizzard.
Winds gusting faster than 100 km-h tore across the Prairies, making quick work of structural landmarks, like Ogema’s brick firewall and an old, empty church in Milestone.
The giant 21-metre-long firewall, erected more than 100 years ago, fell to pieces overnight.
“It’s a huge loss for the community and the surrounding areas, because it’s one of the few left in western Canada,” volunteer historian Dawn Stewart Culbert said.
The 40-centimetre-thick wall was built after a 1915 fire destroyed the east side of Ogema’s main street. “I’m just devastated,” she said.
In Bratt’s Lake, the RM just south of Regina, wind speeds set a new, province-wide record, based on Environment Canada data: 143 km-h.
The weather agency said if that speed were “rated on the Enhanced Fujita scale for rating tornadoes, this would be an EF-1 (tornado).”
Other communities that hit at least 100 km-h wind speeds included: Yellowgrass 133, Elbow 122, Mankota 120, Estevan 120, Moose Jaw 119, Eastend Cypress 111, Swift Current 109, Rockglen 106, Rosetown 104, Maple Creek 104, Weyburn, Indian Head and Val Marie all at 102 and Leader and Kindersley both at 100.
Meteorologist Terri Lang said despite her agency’s two-day early statement about the looming blizzard, “it was actually stronger than what the weather models would indicate."
About an hour northeast of Ogema, the storm toppled a steeple and its supporting upper structure from an old Roman Catholic church in Milestone.
The building sat empty with no one inside, town administer Stephen Schury said. “I think it’s just in a state of disrepair.
“Obviously it’s an old building and it’s privately owned and it needs some work.” He estimated the building hadn’t been used as a church for the past 15 years.
A local photographer also captured images in the area of two large, wooden barns with badly damaged roofs.
On the outskirts of Balgonie the storm forced Garth Tomaschefski to park his car in the ditch and walk back into town.
He was driving north around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday to make it to his acreage. Conditions were tolerable, he said.
“As soon as I crossed the railroad tracks it went to complete white-out.” Crawling along at five km-h with no visibility, he knew it wasn’t safe.
Tomaschefski pulled to the side, called his friend and trekked back to the train tracks.
“I drove it in far enough so no one would hit it overnight and they wouldn’t get hurt,” he said.
Late Thursday morning, he had just wrapped up pulling out his car from the ditch.
— with files by Alec Salloum
