Clean-up in Balcarres after vicious storm hits area

The town of Balcarres is in clean-up mode after a storm hit the town Sunday night.

Power lines were down, trees fell to the ground, and a few buildings sustained damage during the storm that hit just past 1 a.m.

Mayor Kent Esplin said it came out of nowhere.

“Everything was all quiet, and then all of a sudden the wind picked up,” he said. “It’s a little bit of a war zone around town, but we’re getting things cleaned up.”

Many power lines were affected by the storm when trees and their branches fell directly onto them, causing a wide-spread power outage.

Power is expected to be fully restored by 9 p.m. Monday, but some areas were restored around 4 p.m.

The power went out in the area at around 1:45 a.m.

Katie Henry was camping in the neighbouring town of Ituna on Sunday when her phone began to ring, and she said she knew immediately there was something wrong at home.

She received damage to much of her yard after a large tree fell.

“Our power meter is ripped right out of the house,” she said. “(The tree) fell down onto our fence, our shed, our barbecue and lawn mower.”

She said she called SaskPower in the morning after seeing the full extent of the damage, but was told to call back later.

One common comment that Balcarres residents had was praising the work the town did, as well as how people came together to help those with more damage from the storm.

“I’m just glad,” Henry said. “It was nice to see that everyone was helping and pitching in.”

There weren’t any injuries in the storm.

Balcarres is just over 90 kilometres northeast of Regina.