UPDATE: Storm leaves cottage owners at Madge Lake with big cleanup

Stormy weather left a big mess in southeastern Saskatchewan on Monday night.

Strong winds toppled trees, damaging cottages, campers and boats at Madge Lake in Duck Mountain Provincial Park near the Manitoba border.

Madge Lake on July 13, 2020. (Debbie Sears/Submitted)

Environment Canada’s Shannon Moodie wasn’t able to say whether a plough wind was responsible for the damage.

“Monday evening, we had some storms rolling through the area and we did have a few reports of wind gusts,” she said. “The only wind gust we received from a station there was 83 kilometres per hour.”

Moodie said a wind gust of 98 km/h was recorded in Melville, which also saw significant tree damage.

As of Wednesday at 8 a.m., SaskPower said crews were still trying to restore power to some customers in the park and surrounding areas.

Madge Lake is about 20 kilometres east of Kamsack.

SaskPower is working to restore power in the area. At one point, roughly 500 customers were without power, an email statement sent to 650 CKOM confirmed.

Currently 80 customers in the Kamsack subdivision of the provincial park are without power. The Midway, Benito and Jubilee subdivisions are back online.

SaskPower is asking people in the area to allow workers space to remove downed trees, poles and surrounding vegetation.