Tofield cleans up after severe weather blasts town

 On the eve of the day known as Black Friday, the town of Tofield experienced some scary weather.

A thunderstorm passed through the town east of Edmonton on Monday night, leaving destruction in its path. High winds ripped old trees out by their roots, and residents reported seeing funnel clouds overhead.

Dexter King, who lives in Tofield, calls the last 12 hours hectic. A large tree from his front yard fell onto his truck and he is now working to clean up the mess, with some help from his friends.

“It just swooped down right there and took that tree. It was like it lifted it right out.”

“The sky turned really black and it started to rain really heavy and then we saw a funnel cloud…it sounded like a train. It came right across the house and grabbed that tree, bang, and in seconds, it was gone and then it cleared off.”

The large tree fell onto the box of King’s truck, which was sitting in the driveway. He says his insurance company won’t touch the damaged truck; calling it an “act of God.”

“No one got hurt – that’s the main thing,” he says.

A friend of King’s was on the road when the storm hit. He had to stop driving because it was raining and hailing so hard he couldn’t see.

Brian Donovan escaped severe tree damage, but the skylight in his kitchen was torn off during the storm.

“It lifted the skylight off, moved it, put it back down and of course it’s all in a split second,” says Donovan. “Right then it was raining and hail was starting,” he adds.

Donovan, who uses a cane to walk, says his wife went onto the roof to secure a piece of plywood and plastic over the hole to keep the rain from coming in. Donovan says he has never seen a storm like this before.

“It got dark and then there it was; just tremendous noise.”

“It was instant,” he says, recalling the experience of standing inside his home watching the weather rage outside.

Rob Hubbard had planned to spend Tuesday with his grandchildren, who had just arrived for a vacation. Instead, he spent the day cleaning up after the storm. The people’s warden at Holy Trinity, Donovan got a call saying that a tree had fallen at the church.

“We had this enormous storm which is very exciting for everybody,” says Donovan who points out things could have been much worse.

“It’s a real blessing that nothing was hurt.”

The huge spruce tree narrowly missed the church, and the only work to be done was cleanup. Donovan says the work they are doing today is a ‘cake walk’ compared to what they could have been faced with.

The storm caused some apprehension at Tofield Lodge, a seniors facility, where Jan Valliera works. She says a resident was frightened by the storm so she went to her room to stay with her.

“I was just riding it out, hoping everything was ok,” says Valliera.

A tree on the property fell as a result of the storm.

“That was such a nice sitting area for the residents so, we’ll have to make it pretty again, someday,” Valliera says.

The residents are all very disappointed that the tree is gone.

“It was very dark and I hadn’t heard any weather warning, so I just thinking it would pass over because it came really quickly,” Valliera says.

In fact, there had been a weather warning through the Alberta Emergency Alert System. At 7:40 on Monday night, a warning went out for a thunderstorm with the potential to produce large hail, strong wind gusts, heavy rainfall and a tornado.

In the event of severe weather, residents are reminded to check television, radio, websites, RSS Feeds, social media during such a situation.

In the event of a tornado, residents are instructed to proceed to a basement or reinforced structure, to get low and put as many walls between them and the storm. If you are outside and cannot get to cover seek shelter in a ditch or ravine.