Confirmed tornado touchdown at Alberta campground; damage assessment underway
Emergency workers in Alberta are responding to an incident near Dillberry Lake Provincial Park, located about 290 kilometres east of Edmonton, after RCMP say a tornado touched down in the area on Wednesday evening and forced a campground to be evacuated.
RCMP spokesperson Const. Sandra Geiger told CBC News Thursday morning that everyone at the Dillberry Lake Provincial Park campground is accounted for and evacuees are at the Chauvin rec centre.
She said some people were taken to hospital but did not say how many or how significant their injuries were.
Geiger said police officers were still at the scene and are awaiting more resources in order to better assess the damage.
She confirmed some structures were damaged during the weather event.
"What that looks like, I don't know at this time," Geiger said.
Geiger told CBC News that RCMP officers were called to the area at around 8:30 p.m. following reports of a tornado.
The Municipal District of Wainwright posted on its Facebook page that "an event" had been reported in the area.
"We are asking the general public to avoid the area and allow emergency crews to respond to the event," the statement said.
A critical alert was issued by Environment Canada at 7:23 p.m. Residents were warned to take cover after meteorologists reported a tornado was forming near Paradise Valley, a village southwest of Lloydminster.
The storm later moved east into Saskatchewan and the warning in Alberta was lifted at 8:48 p.m.
"Tornado warnings are issued when a thunderstorm is producing or is likely to produce a tornado,” the Environment Canada said in its alert, adding that it was a "very dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation."
People in the town of Provost were also warned to prepare for extreme winds, large hail and intense rainfall on Wednesday night.
Laurie Penner, who lives in the village of Chauvin, about kilometres northwest of Dillberry Lake, said she watched the rotation of what she believed to be a tornado forming near her front deck.
"That was mesmerizing .... almost hypnotic," she said. "Just even watching it form that way."
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Penner noted the weather turned quickly after lightning struck close enough to her home to temporarily blind her and send her back inside her home.
"Then we did get the rain and we had probably quarter-sized hail — not for very long ... and then the wind came up. But it was very brief," she said.
"When things are rumbling, get to a safe place."