OXBOW — The latest powerful storm to strike the southeast region in June brought with it a tornado that further rattled a community.
Environment Canada reported a tornado southwest of Oxbow in the evening of June 9. Erin Brown, who lives in the Oxbow area, said a neighbour notified him of the twister, so Brown and his wife went out the south side of their fence into the valley to view what he called a “massive system” and a funnel cloud.
“It looked like it was headed our way, but it wasn’t moving as quickly as we thought it would,” Brown told SaskToday, adding he believes the tornado was on the ground for at least 10-15 minutes.
(Video by Erin Brown)
Initially the tornado didn’t pack any precipitation, but then fairly heavy rain and hail arrived. Brown noted he couldn’t miss the sound.
“It was a rumble in the distance, but it was odd because you could still hear all of the birds and everything singing where we are. Constant rumble of thunder and lightning and all that, but calm where we were, knowing that it could be very disruptive.”
It was the first time he said he had seen a twister of that magnitude.
Brown and his wife said they didn’t receive an alert on their phones before they spotted the tornado, but two alerts came later.
He has heard of a farm outside of Oxbow that was wiped out. Based on the time and the location of the tornado, Brown suspects he might have witnessed the tornado when it was ravaging the farm.
The Oxbow area has seen some dangerous storms in recent days. A powerful thunderstorm hit June 6, and a tornado warning was issued in the evening of June 7. That storm damaged businesses and homes. Brown noted shingles, fence and trees were lost at their property in the storm.
“It was an absolute mess here Monday morning [June 8],” said Brown.
Brown and his wife were hiding in their basement June 7, waiting for the storm to pass. They’ve been paying close attention to the radar lately.
“The whole town is still trying to pick itself up from what happened Sunday night,” said Brown.
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