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Rimbey cattle shed destroyed by sudden, strong winds

Alvin Johnson said no other farms in the area sustained any damage from the freak event
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Alvin Johnson’s cattle shed was destroyed in a short amount of time on April 27 by sudden winds that ripped off the roof. Photo Submitted

Alvin Johnson’s cattle shed was demolished by a sudden and strong bout of wind on April 27.

The nearly 100 foot shed had the roof torn off by unusually strong winds that Johnson says came out of no where.

The weather that afternoon was warm and pleasant, he says, with little indication devastation would come from the day.

“It was a nice day, the clouds were getting dark in the distance and a little turbulent, and I remember seeing a few dust devils around, but there was no indication something like this would happen,” Johnson said.

He says it could have been a mini twister or a “freak mega blast” of wind that caused the damage.

It happened sometimes within a half an hour Monday afternoon, Johnson says.

He left his farm to go to the Keyera Gas Plant around 2:30 p.m. and returned roughly a half an hour later to find his shed destroyed.

“The entire roof was ripped off and the structure underneath was damaged beyond fixing,” he said.

Roughly 300 ft away from the structure one singular tree was the only other thing to be damaged from the sudden winds.

Johnson says the tree was slip about a foot down. Other than that there was no damage to be found.

“None of my neighbours had any damage either. Just my shed and the one tree,” he said.

“Don’t know what cause it, it might have been on of those freak wind blasts.”

According to Environment Canada, the highest wind gusts in the area on April 27 clocked in at 47 km/h, and no weather warnings were issued for the area.

Johnson plans to tear down what remains of his cattle shed and rebuild in the coming days.