TORNADO POEM
(The destructive effects of Tornados in Western Canada
1968-1960)
by Opal
Louis Nations
Pambrun
Cleared
sod off newly broken land leaving ¼ acre of bare floor
Killarney
Dug
up farmer’s potato crop during harvest
Kitchen
torn off buildings, lifted in air and carried over bluff, kitchen table plus
two rows of stacked glass tumblers left unharmed
Kamsack
Garage
with car inside picked up, carried over woodpile, deposited upside down, not
one stick of wood moved
Lac La Biche
Boards
from sawmill driven endwise into convent wall nearby
Estevan
Farmer’s
buildings destroyed except own house where boards driven through walls
destroyed furniture
Sedley
Cow
found lying on back anchored to ground by horns
Westlock
1400
pound bull in stable attached by logging chain, found 20 yards way complete
Cattle
and horses lifted in funnel, found dead in neighbor’s field, chickens stripped
naked
Canoe
soared through downtown window
Swalwell
Heavy
iron stove found in tree tops
Lumsden
Man
lost his trousers, later found swinging in tree a mile away
Vulcan
Blades
of grass found driven into poles and fence posts
Sucked
up all water from lakes in its path
Boissevain
Cleared
field of stooked grain, fell as straw rainstorm over
Heavy
metal pumps lifted out of wells
Telephone
pole traveled vertically down main street
Window
carried 200 yards found unbroken
Kildonan
Top
story of house ripped off, sleeping family thrown to ground
Clothes
torn from backs of family
Woman
and child lifted and dropped in river
Hilton
Lumber
company shed carried 100 feet and set down undamaged
Osage
Mattress
carried 1 ½ miles
Wilkie
House
smashed to kindling driven into ground like stakes
Weyburn
House
torn from foundations and lifted over heads of occupants
House
lifted from foundations and set down intact on vacant lot
Church
turned upside down
Mossbank
Automobile
twisted into junk
House
lifted bodily and deposited in wheat field
Rosetown
Boy
killed when falling from house carried through air
Ernfold
House
switched completely around on foundations with family inside; barn lifted and
set down on top of nearby house
Bigford
Hail
the size of goose eggs
Elfros
Gudmundson
home lifted up whilst family at dinner, buggy found in tree, 200 yard wide
strip cleared of brush and trees piled on either side
Granary
carried in jumps for 200 yards
Rocky Mountain House
Reports
of jumping trees
Kerrobert
Hailstones
ranged from beans to tea-cups
Arc-shaped
cloud lowered over city then disintegrated into 100 smoke spirals
Garage
lifted and deposited on roof of house
Solsgirth
Bob
sleighs lifted into air and carried ¼ mile, trees lifted out of ground and
bunched
Nolalu
Clothing
from one home found 6 miles away. Trees up to 3 feet in diameter criss-crossed
to height of 30 feet.
Killarney
Clothes
ripped from backs of children, woman sucked out of window
7-foot
wall of water on
Grandstand
ripped apart, its 10-inch beams driven upright into floor of lake
Runnymeade
Garage
lifted from ground with car intact. Furrow turned by plow moved with force of
wind
Estevan
Load
of coal cars blown along tracks
Lundar
House
sucked into air, turned upside down and dropped, occupants felt as if on
elevator ride
Tebo
7
cars ripped from middle of moving train
100-foot
water spout on river lifts 14-foot boat and drops same on car
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Opal Louis Nations