Deadly tornado that devastated Alonsa upgraded to category 4

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This article was published 04/08/2018 (2343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Environment Canada said Monday the tornado that ripped across central Manitoba and killed a 77-year-old man Friday evening was a category EF-4 — the second-highest classification on the Fujita scale.

The agency said its initial rating of EF-3 was too low.

The least severe tornadoes are classified as EF-0, while the most severe are EF-5. 

Natalie Hasell, a warning preparedness meteorologist at the weather agency, said Monday afternoon they realized it was more severe when they combed over more information.

“EF-3 is already really significant,” she said. “EF-4 is described as devastating damage. We’re talking about relatively well-constructed houses being torn down. There are some cabins on the beach that simply no longer exist. There’s no sign that they ever were — these were actually rather large structures.

“More careful look at the information we had suggested to us that actually, the scenario in Alonsa, Silver Ridge and Margaret Bruce Beach, was more in the EF-4 range; the lower range of the EF-4.” 

The wind speed was probably around the 280 km/h range, she said.

“Imagine a small house being swept clean off it’s foundation. That’s what we saw. And unfortunately, roofs were collapsed. There were injuries, also the fatality. We’ve been quite lucky there haven’t been more.”

Meantime Monday, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities called on the province to invest in better cellphone service in rural Manitoba because many Alonsa residents received no warning about the twister.

Providing Manitobans with timely communication during an emergency is crucial, association executive director Joe Masi said. 

Many residents of Alonsa said Sunday they were unprepared for the tornado that touched down Friday evening because of irregular, at times non-existent, cellphone service.

“It’s a basic necessity of infrastructure, just like clean water and good roads. Cell service and internet, from our association’s point of view, has become a basic piece of infrastructure that you need — otherwise you cannot be successful,” Masi said.

The twister killed Jack Furrie, 77, a retired teacher who had worked in Sandy Bay. Two others were taken to hospital.

The municipality is on the west side of Lake Manitoba, about 200 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. The high winds sent a truck into the lake, flipped motor homes, collapsed structures and took down trees and hydro poles around the Margaret Bruce campground and beach. 

A handful of residents told the Free Press Sunday they didn’t receive an emergency alert on their cellphone until they had already seen or heard about the twister approaching, or they didn’t receive a warning text at all. They also said that should never happen again.

The association has been lobbying for better cellphone service in rural pockets for years and has met with carriers and provincial officials about their concerns, Masi said Monday.

Carriers such as Bell MTS, Rogers and Telus approach the issue as a business case, he said.

“For (carriers), it has to be viable from a financial point of view; they are private companies. That’s why we’ve been arguing we need more government involvement to bring service to areas where it’s not as feasible from a business perspective.”

Government response 

Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler made a statement about cellphone service on Sunday. 

“Our government continues to work with phone companies, (Environment Canada) and Pelmorex, the company who has developed the Alert Ready program, to ensure that Manitobans have access to timely alerts on their cellphones.

“For (carriers), it has to be viable from a financial point of view; they are private companies. That’s why we’ve been arguing we need more government involvement to bring service to areas where it’s not as feasible from a business perspective.”
– Joe Masi, Association of Manitoba Municipalities

“This is one tool that people have to be aware and ready for severe weather, but it is not the only tool.”

What happened Friday

Few or no bars on their cellphone, signalling poor service, is the norm in the area, especially by the beach, said resident Nancy Buchanan. She, her husband and their nine-year-old son were camping Friday night when they spotted dark clouds far away.

“My sister texted to say that we were under a tornado watch, but I didn’t get the text until we had already seen the tornado,” she said, adding that she occasionally gets one bar by their camper. Knowing the service is poor at their usual camping spot, Buchanan said she bought a $150 booster this weekend, but it barely improved the unreliable service and her phone has to be touching it in order to work.

When they saw the twister approaching around 8:30 p.m., she said her family got in their car and high-tailed it via the only road out.

“The alert system is a great system — when it works,” she said. “It didn’t…We honked our horn. We yelled at everybody, within that small area, who we could see. You just panic, you go to get your family out and make a break for it.” 

Buchanan never got an emergency alert, but she said her husband, who is also a Bell MTS customer, did as they were driving away, around 8:45 p.m. Still, she said her service was so poor she couldn’t get or answer panicked messages from her family to tell them they were safe, nor could she text friends to warn them. “It was frustrating.”

“Cell service here isn’t the best…It’s sort of a fact of life in this area,” said Pamela Sul, local resident who said she didn’t receive an alert until she was headed out of town.

Cellphone providers

Bell MTS spokeswoman Michelle Gazze said the company recently upgraded the wireless sites in some parts of Alonsa with LTE wireless technology. “While service has been greatly enhanced overall, some pockets where coverage was already limited may have seen reduced coverage,” she wrote in a statement, adding that they continue to look for ways to enhance service in those areas.

Public alerts on any carrier’s compatible LTE phones can only be received if they are connected to an LTE network, Gazze said.

Many areas near Alonsa are served by HSPA networks, the wireless technology that preceded LTE, she said. LTE phones “normally” work in those areas at lower speeds, while some of their newer features, such as public alerts, don’t work at all, Gazze added.

Rogers said the company is working with Bell MTS and affected customers to address service issues. Telus did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.

“My cellphone doesn’t work at all. Not for a long, long time,” said Frank Chen, an Alonsa resident and Rogers customer who runs the local grocery store, Zdan’s Family Store.

Once Chen saw the tornado had passed, he said he and his staff drove down to the beach to look at the damage.

Hydro cleanup

“Cell service here isn’t the best…It’s sort of a fact of life in this area.”
– Resident Pamela Sul

Scott Powell, corporate communications director for Manitoba Hydro, called the tornado aftermath “a very, very extensive (hydro) repair.” He said crews from Dauphin, Swan River, Neepawa, Russell, Virden and Brandon had to help fix and replace broken lines and get rid of several trees.

Most of the 280 customers got their power back late Saturday afternoon, he said; the other 30 or so had power again by Saturday night.

When Chen came across hydro poles ripped out of the ground and motor homes strewn by the beach, he said they returned to the store and came back with food and bottles of water.

Not only did he tell the Free Press poor cell service is dangerous because people can’t prepare for an emergency, he said it also “absolutely” slows down emergency responses since victims can’t call for help without a cellphone. “It was a real, real disaster.”

Storm Chasers 

Storm chasers, people who drive towards storms for research and adrenaline, such as Kim Hines said poor cell coverage even keeps them a little further away from a storm. Rural communities tucked away in the forest need better service, said Hines, who chased Friday’s tornado. Not getting alerts is an issue, she said, and so is not having service at all. 

“What about when you get hurt? You’re lying there and you’ve got your cellphone near you and nobody can hear you?”

Jordan Carruthers, the founder of Manitoba Storm Spotter, agreed that no one should have to go without the ability to receive severe weather warnings.

“I heard that the people affected by the Alonsa tornado had no warning because of no cell service and I believe that is absolutely ridiculous. With the amount of tornados and other severe weather events that occur in Manitoba, we definitely need to have a better cellular coverage network.”

Fires often break out in Alonsa, said resident Kim Grant. Grant, who was driving home from Brandon when she got a message from her uncle about the storm, said the cellphone coverage at her house is “awful.”

She said hasn’t had a single bar in her home since January, when she moved to the area, let alone the outages others have experienced since early June.

“They need to make an effort to give people service.” 

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

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