Environment Canada confirmed a preliminary EF1 tornado touched down southwest of Portage la Prairie Wednesday night.
New Rosedale Hutterite Colony said they suffered major damage from the tornado.
"It's actually far more wide spread than I thought it would be," said Patrick McCarthy, an Environment Canada meteorologist assessing the tornado damage.
McCarthy believes the tornado touched down for 10-15 minutes, moving at a pace of about 30-50 km/h. At the height of the storm, the winds surrounding the tornado reached 150 km/h.
Rachelle Baer said the storm rolled in at around 6:30 p.m. Less than an hour later, the tornado hit the colony, she said.
“There was a strong wind, it looked like a hurricane outside,” she explained. “The trees were bending, the rain was flying everywhere.”
The 20-year-old had been checking the cloud movement with her father as it was about to touch down. When they realized what it was, she said they ran back to the colony to warn the others.
“I announced on the PA that there is a tornado behind the colony and it’s coming and everyone should get downstairs to shelter,” Baer said.
There was significant damage to structures, from flattened grain bins to roofs being ripped from buildings.
“Even the oldest members of our colony said they never witnessed anything like this,” Baer added. “We’re very blessed that it didn’t hit our homes and most of the damage is to structures.”
Environment Canada said they still have to analyze the data that was collected at the site to finalize the rating.
With files from Sarah Plowman.
