‘Ended up with a hole in our upstairs wall’: high winds topple trees, damage home

WINNIPEG -

The cleanup has begun in parts on Manitoba as Friday’s gusting winds toppled trees and damaged at least one home.

According to a city spokesperson, more than 100 calls were made regarding fallen or damaged trees by 9 p.m. Friday night.

Cadets were forced to help direct traffic after tree debris blocked a lane on Inkster Boulevard at McGregor Street. Broken tree limbs also littered parts of Wellington Crescent.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, wind gusts peaked in the city at 77 kilometres an hour around 6 p.m.

high winds topple trees in Winnipeg

The damage wasn’t limited to Winnipeg. A home in Pilot Mound had a tree fall onto its roof, with a branch breaking through.

“It had been there a very long time and did creak in high winds,” said homeowner Elaine Popplestone. “We expected that some day it was going to go, and we just hoped it would have gone in a different direction.”

Popplestone said her husband was home when it happened. He thought it was just a fallen branch, but, upon closer inspection, it was the whole tree.

“There is a branch that punctured the roof and we ended up with a hole in our upstairs wall,” said Popplestone.

“The branch was still in there, blocked last night (when) the winds died down. We slept in our bedroom and had no problem.”

Because the tree was on the boulevard, the municipality is taking care of it. A tree service came by the home Saturday morning and cut it up. Someone else will pick up the pieces and take them to the dump.

Large tree damages house roof in Pilot Mound after strong winds on June 11 (Source: Elaine Popplestone)

Wind speeds in the area hit over 100 km/h, with Pilot Mound experiencing gusts of 104 km/h, the highest in the province, according to Environment Canada. Eight other Manitoba communities saw winds at or over the 100 km/h mark.

The high winds forced Manitoba Hydro to bring in extra crews from Winnipeg to Morden to deal with storm damage in the area.

In a tweet, Hydro said storm cleanup has been challenging after high winds and rain damaged poles and power lines. Hydro said power should be restored for most people by Saturday evening.

.high winds topple trees in Winnipeg

For Popplestone, her main concern now is rain.

‘I'm not worried, but it may be a good idea to cover the roof to not get any rain indoors,” she said.