By Marcia Love
A severe hail storm cut a swath from Golden Prairie to Tompkins on July 31, leaving a path of destruction.
Hail stones the size of golf balls were reported to have struck near Tompkins in the evening, causing a great deal of damage to property.
Carley Cooper, who lives three miles southwest of Tompkins, said the storm smashed windows in her house and dented her vehicles.
“It stripped the leaves off the trees and knocked the grass all down,” she explained. “I’ve lived here all my life and that’s the worst hail storm I’ve seen here.”
Cooper has lived in the area for 84 years and said she had previously only witnessed pea-sized hail stones in the coulee where her home is.
Farmers and ranchers in Golden Prairie suffered crop losses when they were hit by a hail and wind storm.
Glenn Feil said some of his crops are a complete loss at his ranch 20 miles north of Maple Creek.
“(The hail) was as big as your thumbnail, and it covered a strip of land probably four miles wide with a pretty strong wind with it,” he said. “There were crops here and to the north and west of us that were 100 per cent (destroyed).”
At a neighbouring ranch, Bev and Blair Erman had rain hitting their house with such force it was coming in through the window sills.
“It hailed so hard it looked like snow and you couldn’t see anything,” explained Bev. “It was pretty scary because the winds were going every which direction. The clouds were swirling... so I thought I should head for the basement.”
Bev said they received nearly two inches of precipitation during the 20-minute storm.
The sheets of hail were so thick Blair, who was working in a field at the time, couldn’t see to drive back to the ranch.
“Blair got in his truck and he thought he was driving north, but when (the hail) let up he was going west,” Bev said.
The majority of the Ermans’ crops were hailed out.
“We won’t be combining anything,” Bev explained. “Hay that was standing is done – it’s all flattened.”
Wind gusts were powerful enough that round hay bales were blowing across the fields.
“The trees were so beautiful and we had a lot of the older ones knocked over,” Bev said.
The Ermans are cleaning up for the second time in two months, as their home also received flood damage on June 18.
“Everything’s a mess again,” said Bev. “We had (a flooded basement) and now the top floor is getting it. We’re just a little bit tired of it.”
Dan Kulak, an Environment Canada meteorologist, said there were intense rain and wind warnings for the Simmie area, as well as tornado and hail warnings for Fox Valley, however he didn’t have weather information for the Tompkins or Golden Prairie areas.