Due to excessive winds, the entire south central part of Alberta felt like Lethbridge for a day.
Winds reached up to 100 km per hour on top of the hill, with Keoma reaching the highest recorded wind strength of 117 km.
In Drumheller, no record breaking winds occurred but damage was evident.
“It was pretty minimal overall like there was a couple of downed trees, like there was a tree that fell over by Riverside Park,” said Darryl Drohemerski, Director of Infrastructure Services.
According to Environment Canada, reports from last night’s winds reached just under 100 km per hour in Morrin and Hand Hills area.
Work crews including the Town of Drumheller and Carillion work have worked seamlessly to discard any debris that may have obstructed homes and roadways.
“We work well together between the Town and Carillion to kind of make sure that we’re not inconveniencing our residents or visitors by determining who’s responsibility it is,” said Drohemerski.
At approximately 10:30 p.m. last night, Drumheller Fire crew responded to a tree that had fallen across the North Dinosaur Trail near the Dinosaur RV Resort, where they worked tirelessly through wind and rain to clear it.
On another note, no reports indicated water levels rising enough to cause flooding within the valley.
“‘It was more of a spray than a heavy downpour so it was just more of the wind,” said Drohemerski.
The Dinosaur Trail Golf and Country Club has closed down this morning as many of trees and branches have littered the course.
A tree branch was found on another tree, causing it to lean onto a power pole near DVSS, ultimately causing some power issues.
“ATCO is dealing with the tree right now,” said Drohemerski.
More than one power issue happened last night as Rosedale was completely out of power due to arcing from some trees where they continually hit power poles.
As calls come into the public works branch, workers will deal with the situation.
Citizens are urged to call the Public Works Office at 403-823-1330 or call the Town office at where you will be redirected.
Anyone is also encouraged to share their information and problems on the Town of Drumheller Facebook page. Any major problems on evenings or weekends can be directed to the after-hours phone number at 403-823-2512.
“There’s a lot of the cities recovering from extensive trees and a lot of the wind damage as a result of that storm but it seems that we were lucky and escaped the brunt of that storm,” said Drohemerski.
