Tuesday’s brief tornado warning in the Elie area was eerily timed. It was exactly three years ago, to the day, that a powerful twister tore through the town.
The 2007 Elie tornado was an F5: the strongest on the twister scale ever recorded in Canada.
There was no siren to warn residents of the approaching disaster and that hasn’t changed.
"I go into panic mode pretty quick when there’s a storm coming," said Lynn Kauppila. She and her husband, Les Kauppila say life has changed since that fateful day.
They were sitting on their front porch when the massive storm moved in. It ripped through Elie, destroying their home, and four others. There were no serious injuries.
"I can’t believe it happened," said Lynn
The Kauppila’s ran to the basement and hid in a corner.
"Looked up, I said honey the house is gone," said Les, "she said you’re full of it, I said look it’s gone, we could see the sky."
It all happened with little warning.
"It would be nice to have a siren," said Lynn.
Altona is the only town in Manitoba that has a tornado warning siren, a lesson they say they learned after what happened in Elie.
Right after the tornado, the R.M. Of Cartier talked about putting in a tornado warning system, but realized it just wasn’t feasible in a small town like Elie.
"Elie is six to seven hundred people so it’s tough to justify," said Reeve Roland Rasmussen, "and man the thing that’s the biggest concern."
The reeve would like the province to fund a warning system.
So in the meantime, the Kauppila’s are keeping a closer eye on the sky.
"I think I have to be responsible for ourselves," said Lynn.
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