WATCH ABOVE: Viewer captures video of a tornado near Foremost, Alberta
CALGARY – Alberta farmer Andrew Hougen was harvesting lentils Thursday morning when he captured video of a tornado touching down outside Foremost, Alta.
WATCH:As Jayme Doll reports, two brothers had to out run a tornado
“I’m 28. I’ve been here my whole life…I’ve never seen anything like that before in the south country.”
READ MORE: Tornado warnings end as storms blow through Calgary, southern Alberta
Hougen said he took the video of the funnel cloud at 11:55 a.m. Hougen, his brother and father were about 20 km south of Foremost on Highway 879 at the time.
“We noticed a funnel cloud on the back of the storm,” he said. “It started to get a little longer and stirring up some dirt…we got a little nervous so we tried to park everything at the end of the field as fast as we could.”
He said the tornado seemed to last for about 15 minutes.
“It was on the ground for probably about five minutes or so is what it seemed like it was touched down for.”
READ MORE: How can a tornado last for hours?
The Seward’s were another Southern Alberta family affected by the tornado. When it hit their farm (also south of Foremost) it gave the family a scare as it approached their house.
“It was just this hum,” said Erika Seward. “Hearing that and looking up at the same time, seeing what was going on, I thought the roof was going to come off.”
Luckily, the tornado didn’t damage the house, but the same can’t be said for the family’s property. Trees were destroyed, a playhouse was flattened, fuel containers were nowhere to be seen, and fertilizer and seed containers were dented. Damages the Sewards believe could cost over $250-thousand.
Environment Canada received multiple videos and photos of the tornado.
“This tornado has been given a preliminary rating of EF0 which corresponds to an estimated wind speed of 90-120 km/h,” said the agency on its website.
Hougen said he took the video as they tried to drive away on Highway 879.
“It was pretty crazy. At first it passed pretty close to where our combines were at…we were hoping it didn’t wreck anything there, and then it kind of started to head further south.”
“It was pretty intense when we were right underneath it kind of looking up at the funnel.”
Hougen said there was no damage to any of his nearby farm machinery, though one of the engine compartments on a tractor flipped up.
As for the Sewards, the repairs to their farm will have to wait as they are hard at work in harvest.
“Everything is going to have to sit for a bit,” said Erika Seward. “We have to get our work done. We’ll worry about all the clean up afterwards.”
Foremost is about 325 km southeast of Calgary.
Environment Canada is seeking pictures of any damage this tornado may have caused. If you have information, call 1-800-239-0484, send an email to Storm@EC.Gc.Ca, or tweet to #abstorm.
READ MORE: Tornado touched down southwest of Calgary, says Environment Canada
With files from Sarah Offin
Watch below: A selection of video showing extreme weather in Calgary and surrounding areas on Wednesday afternoon.
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