Severe storm blasts through Calgary

A severe storm swept through Calgary and area Tuesday afternoon, bringing hail, torrential downpours and wind gusts reaching more than 100 kilometres per hour that left broken windows and fallen trees in its wake.

The worst of the storm has passed Calgary, says CBC meteorologist Danielle Savoni.

"At this point it's starting to change over into just the rain and some embedded thunderstorms, but those embedded thunderstorms are nowhere near as severe as what we've seen."

Some window washers got caught on a platform on the 22nd floor on an office building on Fifth Avenue S.W.

Tara Sukut was in her office a floor below.

"You could hear the window washers outside yelling, get us off here, get us out of here," says Sukut. 

"And a couple minutes later we just heard glass smashing. And you could see it was banging on the window down on our floor. They broke the windows to get inside the building."

The Calgary Fire Department says it responded to more than 130 calls in the span of 90 minutes Tuesday, and also sent out its high-angle rescue unit to help three window washers.

Sukut's interview with the CBC's Elizabeth Snaddon can be heard in the player below.

Tweeter user Joshua Zhivago posted the video below from CrossIron Mills, just north of the city.

The airport was shut down for about half an hour due to a lightning advisory, but the storm didn't have much of an effect on arrivals and departures.

Enmax said Wednesday morning that power has been restored after high winds downed power lines in the area.

There were also unconfirmed reports of a tornado near CrossIron Mills. Environment Canada has not confirmed the touchdown.

Jay Mangat posted a video of road signs on Deerfoot Trail swinging in the wind, until one breaks off.

Southwest damage

The storm also hit hard in southwest Calgary community of Cedarbrae.

Dayna Hutton was planning to go to the store but when she walked outside her house, she realized she couldn't move her car.

"[I] stepped over a few broken branches and then got to my driveway at the front of my house and my car is covered — in tree from my front yard. It's a poplar, and I think it's one of the biggest one on the street."

Hutton says the tree is now resting on the back end of her car and her garage.