20 June 2005
Storm Derails Train Cars, Downs Power Lines
Emerson - A thunderstorm has downed power lines, damaged
homes and derailed train cars south of Winnipeg.
The path of destruction cut through the towns of Gretna, Emerson, Altona, and Letellier south of
Winnipeg Sunday morning and resulted in several tornado sightings throughout the region.
Winds of up to 140-kilometres per hour ripped through the Altona airport, sweeping two
hangars away and flipping over a plane.
Steven Kiansky of Southeast Air Service says other aircraft are badly damaged and won't fly for weeks
- terrible news at the start of a busy season of spraying for mosquitoes.
Streets in Altona are littered with broken power lines, and uprooted trees lay everywhere.
Lisa Sommers was horrified when a tree branch slammed through the ceiling in her daughter's bedroom.
She says her daughter could have died in the incident.
Manitoba Hydro spokesman Jim Peters says they lost eight wooden power poles during the wind.
Power has been restored to most areas.
Environment Canada meteorologist Ron Mark says tornadoes were spotted in Altona and Grunthal, noting
the storm wreaked havoc in much of the southeast corner of the province before moving on to the
Kenora region.
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