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“Glass was flying all over me so I kind of ducked and covered myself until my glass stopped shattering”
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August 2, 2022 • 12 minutes ago • Read 4 minutes • Join the conversation Storm photos taken near Innisfail, AB between 6:00am and 8:00pm. August 1/22. The storm produced large destructive hail, damaged vehicles, but no initial reports of a tornado. Courtesy of Matt Melnick Courtesy of Matt Melnick
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Massive hail shattered windshields and stranded travelers on Highway 2 south of Red Deer as a storm tore through the area Monday.
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Vehicles lined both sides of the QEII between Red Deer and Innisfail on Monday night, waiting out a severe storm that prompted multiple tornado warnings and watches throughout the day.
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Paramedics were first on the scene around 6:30 p.m., calling for RCMP assistance upon arrival. RCMP confirmed that many people suffered minor injuries and three were more seriously injured — one man suffered a cut neck, one woman suffered a panic attack and another man “went into shock,” Mounties said.
Alberta Health Services said no patients were taken to hospital, but paramedics were on the scene for nearly four hours as crews checked each of the dozens of parked vehicles. AHS EMS spokesman Stuart Brideau said most of the injuries were minor cuts and bruises caused by the hail and broken glass.
Officers recorded the license plates of 34 damaged vehicles, but the total number of vehicles affected could exceed 60, according to Alberta RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Gina Slaney.
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“They don’t have exact numbers yet because it was a lot of chaos,” Slaney said. “These numbers are subject to change.”
While Mounties never closed the road, traffic on the highway was brought to a standstill as drivers pulled over to wait out the storm.
Environment Canada said most of the property damaged by the storm was to vehicles on the highway, but some buildings in and around Innisfail may also have been damaged.
“We’re starting to see reports of some damage to some infrastructure,” said meteorologist Jesse Wagar.
Wagar said the storm moved across the province quickly from the west, dropping its largest hail — about 10 centimeters the size of a softball — near Markerville, southwest of Red Deer. Along the QEII was the size of a baseball.
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“At this time we have not seen anything to indicate that a tornado has actually touched down, but there have been several reports of a funnel cloud,” she said.
“These storms continued to move east, southeast. They transitioned into a more wind-related thunderstorm where we saw some wind damage near Trochu and the hail size started to decrease.”
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Courtenay, British Columbia Mayor Bob Wells, on a family road trip in the area, was among those trapped on the highway Monday night. He hosted a short live stream on Facebook, which has since been viewed more than 130,000 times, showing the damage to his van – a dented windshield, blown sunroofs, dents all over the exterior of the vehicle and a broken rear passenger window.
Wells said that after the glass hatches broke, water started pouring out. He and his son raised the awnings to protect themselves from the hail while the family huddled under blankets.
“You can feel the hail trying to get through the headliner’s little thing,” he said. “If a big one hits right where your hand was, it hurts like hell. So my son and I have bruises.
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Hailstorm right outside Red Deer
Posted by Bob Wells on Monday, August 1, 2022
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Wells, a former auto body technician, said his van was likely written off, as were many of the other vehicles that were on the highway. Still, he and his family continued their journey in a rental vehicle — one they were lucky enough to get from a busy Red Deer convenience store — while the damage to their van was assessed.
Red Deer’s Matt Berry was also caught in the storm. He said he was leaving a golf course in Innisfail, noting the looming clouds and weather warnings. As he crested Antler Hill, he noticed several cars parked on the side of the road and some smaller hail that had begun to fall. As soon as it stopped, “that’s when it really started to collapse.”
“Once the hail starts falling on the windshield, which has taken the brunt of it, you’re afraid it’s going to start falling,” Berry said. “Glass was flying all over me so I just ducked and covered myself until my glass stopped shattering.”
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Berry said the worst parts of the storm lasted about eight minutes. He said ambulances, fire crews and horse riders arrived soon after, and several Good Samaritans passing by after the storm offered rides to those stranded on the highway.
More rain and storms are forecast for the Red Deer area throughout the week, although Environment Canada has not issued any new warnings for more severe storms moving through Tuesday morning. But Wagar noted that July and early August mark Alberta’s peak storm season and residents should prepare for severe weather by downloading an alert app that will send alerts to their phones.
“And then, of course, have a plan for what to do to stay safe when you get those alerts,” she said. “It’s important to get through this at the start of any severe weather season.”
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mrodriguez@postmedia.com
Twitter: @michaelrdrguez
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