Alonsa tornado that touched down near Alonsa on Friday killed one person. According to CTV News, the 77-year-old school teacher died, and his house was almost completely destroyed.
Alonsa is about 200 kilometers northwest of Winnipeg and the government of Manitoba informed that it declared a State of Local Emergency on Friday evening. The State of Local Emergency will be for about two weeks in this area.
The man named Jack Furrie was described as a positive and generous person by his grandson Kelly Brown. Kelly said that his grandfather lived alone in his house. After hearing about the tornado, the man immediately rushed to help his grandfather from Winnipeg.
He told that he could not recognize the grandfather’s house, there were no walls in the house, the trees were broken and the truck was in another place.
Brown said that his grandfather manages to warn his neighbor to run to the shelter before the house was destroyed. When he arrived, Jack Furrie was found dead in the yard. Kelly also informed that his uncle and aunt survived, though they lived about one km away from his grandfather’s place.
Alonsa Rural Municipality provided information that both people were taken to the hospital after their wall fell down on them, but at the current moment, they are not in the hospital.
Mike Russo, a local meteorologist, told that a storm damage team is still trying to determine the intensity of Alonsa tornado. He reported that the information about tornado duration in social media is not confirmed.
Russo considers that everything was more significant. There was also recorded a hail larger than a golf ball.
Campers also suffered from the tornado. Valerie McInnes said she was at her camp at Margaret Bruce Beach when her neighbor warned her about the tornado. After a few minutes, they saw that the tornado was approaching their campsite, they ran to the cars and began to leave quickly.
Having left for a safe distance, people were amazed to see a huge tornado. Returning later, they saw tumbledown tents and great destruction. McInnes told that they were very lucky to stay alive.
The RM of Alonsa reported that Manitoba Hydro crews restored power in several areas. As it became known, unfortunately, not all people received a warning about an impending tornado.