Cleanup continues in northeast Winnipeg after Thursday storm

As residents continue to pick up the pieces of strewn debris after a massive thunderstorm, experts are cautioning homeowners of the dangers of doing too much themselves.

Rianna Muswagon and Parampreet Brar say that Thursday night's heavy rain, hail, and winds caused havoc on their Garden City neighbourhood.

"It was just all wrecked over on this side. Trees were falling, cars were damaged. Even homes too,” Muswagon said.

Brar said his car was hit by hail and needs repairs, so he will be making a claim with Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI).

MPI said it's received more than 1,500 hail claims since the storm and is opening its contact centre extra hours on Sunday from 12-5 p.m. to keep up with the claims.

It's not just MPI's phone lines ringing off the hook. Matt Vinet, manager of Green Drop Tree Care, says his staff have been busy. Arborists with his and other companies were called away from a prairie-wide competition to help with the mess.

“We've been inundated with calls from private residents and also we've been assisting the City of Winnipeg forestry department,” Vinet said.

Vinet says when a tree goes down in a storm or otherwise - it's a big problem.

"Most of the time it's pretty catastrophic and beyond what homeowners can take care of. Which is good because I really don't recommend trying to take care of a big, dangerous tree yourself."

He says a fallen tree could also lead to other damage to homes, like plumbing issues.

Muswagon and Brar say they have been busy cleaning up other people's yards having recently started a lawn service company called First Nations Cleaning.

"People are sad because their gardens got all ruined right so people are getting us to also clean the leaves that fell from the trees and stuff, branches,” Brar said.

For now - they say their own yard clean up is on hold until the storm-related calls settle.