Calgary grapples with aftermath of severe thunderstorm
People in many areas of Calgary's inner-city will be cleaning up today after a severe thunderstorm on Thursday brought intense rain and hail to the city, as well as some localized flooding.
There were also power outages in several areas, according to Enmax's website, affecting hundreds of people. West Hillhurst, Ogden, Foothills, Riverbend, Shepard Industrial, Dover, Southview, Rosscarrock, Parkdale, Montgomery, Valleyfield, Capitol Hill, and Wildwood were among the areas affected.
Tsuut'ina Nation and Rocky View County were also affected by outages.
Most power had been restored as of 8:30 a.m. Friday morning, though some areas were still listed as experiencing outages.
A vehicle drives under the 8th St. underpass in Calgary Thursday as a thunderstorm caused water to pool on the roads. (Julian Brown/CBC)
Amid the storm, Calgary police had asked the public to avoid some areas due to damage.
On Thursday evening, police asked Calgarians to avoid the area of 10th Street N.W. between 16th Avenue N.W. and 13th Avenue N.W. as emergency crews were on scene addressing road damage caused by heavy rainfall.
Police had also said Blackfoot Trail S.E. was closed at the Ogden Road S.E. bridge due to flooding caused by the heavy rain.
Damage could also be seen in the Beltline area as trees were strewn on the sidewalk.
Kyle Brittain, weather specialist and freelance video journalist, said there was a lot of hail accumulation and precipitation that came down "extremely fast" in the storm.
"Quite a bit of a mess out there after that downpour," he said.
"We've had many good electrical storms over the years, but in my time of living in the Beltline area — about 10 years or so — I have never seen lightning like that and I'm usually out waiting for it if I'm not out storm chasing outside of the city."
Trees in southwest Calgary could be seen knocked over on Thursday evening. (Taylor Braat/CBC)
"I managed to capture many lightning strikes on camera, including one that hit a building just a few blocks away right out the front window."
Environment Canada had said in an alert earlier in the day that meteorologists were tracking a severe thunderstorm capable of producing very strong wind gusts, up to nickel size hail and heavy rain. As of 7:45 p.m. that alert had ended.
Earlier in the evening, storms had caused water to pool on the roads in the city.
On Twitter, Sgt. Chris Martin said if drivers find themselves at an underpass with water in it not to proceed unless they're confident it is shallow enough for the vehicle to get through safely.
"Vehicles getting stuck in flooded underpasses is a common call during and after storms and it needlessly puts you at risk," the tweet read.
This article was origanlly published by CBC News.