Emergency workers are responding to an incident near Dillberry Lake Provincial Park, located about 290 kilometres east of Edmonton, after a tornado touched down in the area on Wednesday evening.
Alberta RCMP spokesperson Cst. Sandra Geiger told CBC News that officers were called to the area around 8:30 p.m. following reports of a tornado. She did not have details about the incident. The Municipal District of Wainwright posted on their Facebook page that “an event” had been reported in the area.
“We are asking the general public to avoid the area and allow emergency crews to respond to the event,” the statement said.
A critical alert was issued by Environment Canada at 7:23 p.m. Residents were warned to take cover after meteorologists reported a tornado was forming near Paradise Valley, a village southwest of Lloydminster, Alta.
The storm then began moving eastward into Saskatchewan shortly and the warning in Alberta ended at 8:48 p.m.
“Tornado warnings are issued when a thunderstorm is producing or is likely to produce a tornado,” read the alert, adding that it was a “very dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation.”
People in the municipal districts of Wainwright and Provost, about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, were also warned to prepare for extreme winds, large hail and locally intense rainfall during the alert.
In the village of Chauvin, which is more than 18 kilometres northwest of Dillberry Lake, resident Laurie Penner watched the rotation of the tornado forming near her front deck.
“That was mesmerizing in itself, almost hypnotic. Just even watching it form that way,” said Penner.
She noted the weather turned quickly after lightning struck close enough to her home to temporarily blind her and send her back inside her home.
“Then we did get the rain and we had probably quarter-size hail, not for very long … and then the wind came up but it was very brief,” said Penner. “When things are rumbling, get to a safe place.”
