Sask. tornado survivors describe devastation

People on a small Saskatchewan reserve say the devastation left by a tornado was like something out of a movie.

"I never thought it would ever happen to us," said Beverly Machiskinic of the Kawacatoose First Nation, 200 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.

Seventy people are homeless after the twister destroyed 15 homes in less than a minute when it touched down Friday night, band officials said.

'We were just praying, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus — have mercy." And then it was over.' — Candace Rosling

The tornado was initially rated as an F2 on the Fujita tornado damage scale, which has a maximum rating of F5.

But on Sunday, Environment Canada officials said a further assessment of the damage showed the tornado was more likely an F3, with wind speeds estimated at about 300 km/h.

The tornado also damaged five other rural properties in the area, in some cases shredding entire farms.

Candace Rosling's home was destroyed. She said she and her family hid in the basement as the tornado raged above.

"Just to think we were all going to die together," Rosling said. "All we did was hold each other close and just told each other we loved each other.

"We were just praying, 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus — have mercy.' And then it was over."

How to help

The Canadian Red Cross is accepting donations  from people wanting to assist those affected by extreme weather in Western Canada. The agency said funds would support Red Cross efforts, such as cleanup kits, groceries and other items for immediate needs, as well as longer-term assistance, such as helping the hardest hit families with recovery planning as they work to rebuild their lives.

The province has declared the community a disaster area and cleanup efforts have begun.

The band's chief was optimistic the community would be rebuilt quickly and grateful no one was seriously hurt.

"A few broken bones, scars, stuff like that," Darin Poorman said. "Cuts, bruises, but no lives lost."

Red Cross officials are registering the evacuees and handing out food vouchers and clothing.

Provincial social services officials were also at the reserve to ensure residents have day-to-day necessities such as diapers and medicine.

About 100 community elders, children and expectant mothers have been moved to temporary accommodation at hotels or motels in nearby Wynyard and in Saskatoon, officials said.

Other areas flooded

The twister's devastation followed two other severe storm systems that caused damaging floods — especially in downtown Yorkton where many basements filled to their ceilings with water.

About 350 property owners in Saskatchewan will qualify for disaster relief from the province after weeks of stormy weather that has destroyed homes and ravaged communities.

Flooding is still affecting highways near Yorkton. Highway 47 south of Buchanan has been closed since Saturday because of water on the road. The provincial highways hotline said Highway 5 west of Humboldt was also closed and impassable.

Driving restrictions were still in place on the Trans-Canada Highway near the Alberta border after several metres of pavement were washed away in flooding that hit that southwest part of the province a couple of weeks ago.

Power problems

A large storm system in Saskatchewan's north left about 2,000 people in the community of Cumberland House without power for more than a day after high winds levelled power poles.

The lack of electricity brought further hardship to the area, which is already under a boil water advisory, said resident Real Carrier. Cumberland House is about 300 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

"Elderly people, young babies — they were starting to run out of water … there's no way people were going down to the river and grabbing buckets of water just to have fresh water," Carrier said. "And a lot of people were concerned, asking questions [like], 'why did it take so long?'"

SaskPower spokeswoman Paula Kohl said the outage was longer than the company expected. When the poles toppled, there was structural damage to vital equipment, which needed to be tested before power could be restored, she said.

Kohl added that the unprecedented moisture and extreme weather in the province have taxed SaskPower's systems. The best the company can do is respond to outages as quickly as possible, she said.