Stettler residents are assessing the damage after being slammed by a hail storm Tuesday.
“We’ve just been in contact with all of our department heads,” said Niki Thorsteinsson, director of communications with the County of Stettler.
“They are out surveying all of our equipment, and all of their fleets, because besides the County of Stettler fleet, we have agriculture services and all of their trucks and equipment.
“You can imagine how much equipment is under our care.”
Thorsteinsson, who lives just outside of Stettler, said the storm didn’t hit her property too badly.
“But when I spoke to some people, they said what they noticed first was the sound. One girl said the first thing she heard was this noise.
“Is there a freight train coming, or a wind? Then they realized it was a storm and they all high-tailed it inside as fast as they could.
“Someone said she got her car into the garage, but then she couldn’t get her garage door to close, because the hail kept knocking off the sensors because it was flying into the garage. The door wouldn’t shut,” she said.
“She also said the hail was of such a size that the gravel was bouncing up.
“The side of her house, which faces west, took quite a hit. And as you go down the street and come around the corner, all the houses that face west – their windows are smashed out and the siding is damaged. It was crazy.”
Winnie Bissett, executive director of the Heartland Youth Centre, had just headed to the golf course for a round when the storm struck.
“We were just getting our groups organized to go out, and we thought we should just wait a few minutes,” she recalled.
“It’s a good thing we did – the course is now closed today because of the damage.”
Bissett’s garage, house and shed have all been damaged, she said.
“We had a really nice yard and now it’s shredded. Our truck, car and trailer are all damaged, too. But there are places in Stettler that are a lot worse off than us. We drove around last night, and there are living room windows broken and trees down.”
