For the second time this week severe thunderstoms tore across the Pembina and Red River Valleys. Early Wednesday morning severe thunderstorm warnings were in place for a large portion of the region, as a line of strong storms

moving across the province crossed the area.

The community of Gretna received wind gusts up to 89 km per hour, said Meteorologist Terri Lang with Environment Canada.

She said the storm moved up from the U.S., and caused some tree damage due to lightning and strong winds.

"A big line of thundershowers formed in the states... and then proceeded to go through Southern Manitoba," said Lang.

She added there weren't any reports of hail from the storm, but it did bring 10-20 millimetres of rain very quickly.

"Often that comes very fast, and can cause localized flooding, but we didn't see any reports of that," said Lang.

Meanwhile, the Municipality of Rhineland (which Gretna is located in) will be helping to clear debris and open roads during the next day or two, said C.A.O. Mike Rempel.

Approximately 5,500 Manitoba Hydro Customers in the Pembina and Red River Valleys experienced power outages during and after the stormy morning, but most had been restored by 7 a.m., according to Bruce Owen, a Manitoba Hydro spokesperson.

Torrential rain and high wind speeds caused trees to become heavy and knock down at least one power line, specifically between Letellier and Dominion City. Crews are working hard to resolve the remaining outages.

Owen said many of this morning's outages were caused by trees interfering with power lines, so he encourages customers to contact either a contractor or Manitoba Hydro to have trees on their properties trimmed or removed.

"Leaves and branches get weighed down with water, and with the winds, they start to blow around almost like a sail on a boat, and if they're close to power lines, with them touching the lines, or with the weight of the water on these branches breaking onto a line, that causes outages," Owen said.

Sharon Goertzen and her husband live in Gretna, and woke up to an alarming surprise this morning.

"Around four this morning we heard a lot of thunder, and there was spectacular lightning, and then (we) heard a loud booming sound. This got us up out of our bedroom, and so we were walking around the house and noticed the power was out. After noticing the power was out we got a flashlight, walked back into our bedroom, and noticed a large branch was coming in through our bedroom ceiling," Goertzen said.

She said they were more surprised than frightened.

"It's just a storm. Our house can get fixed," she said.

Here are the amounts our Rainwatchers reported to us this morning:

7/10ths Carman
6/10ths Winkler, Altona
1/2 inch North of Horndean, 2 miles South of Morden
4.5/10ths Gnadenthal
4/10ths Manitou
3/10ths Elm Creek

The severe storms moved our of the region by 7 a.m.

The rest of the day is expected to be mainly sunny, with daytime highs in the 27 degree range, with Humidex around 30 degrees.

 

The following photos are from Sharon Goertzen highlighting the damage caused to her home from this morning's severe weather.