Storm photos taken near Innisfail, AB between 6:00 and 8:00 PM. August 1/22. The storm produced large damaging hail, vehicle damage, but no initial reports of a tornado. Courtesy of Matt Melnyk Courtesy of Matt Melnyk

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Massive hail shattered windshields and stranded travelers on Highway 2 south of Red Deer as a storm tore through the area Monday.

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Vehicles lined both sides of the QEII between Red Deer and Innisfail on Monday night, waiting out a severe storm that had prompted multiple tornado warnings and watches throughout the day.

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Rescuers were first on the scene around 6:30 p.m., requesting assistance from the RCMP upon arrival. RCMP confirmed that several people suffered minor injuries and three were more seriously injured — one man cut his neck, one woman suffered a panic attack and another man “went into shock,” Mounties said. Alberta Health Services said no patients were taken to hospital, but paramedics were on scene for nearly four hours as crews checked each of the dozens of parked vehicles. AHS EMS spokesman Stuart Brideaux said most of the injuries were minor cuts and bruises caused by hail and broken glass. Officers recorded the license plates of 34 damaged vehicles, but the total number of vehicles affected may exceed 60, according to Alberta RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Gina Slaney.

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“They don’t have exact numbers yet because there was so much chaos,” Slaney said. “These numbers are subject to change.” While Mounties never closed the road, traffic was brought to a standstill on the freeway as drivers pulled away to wait out the storm. Environment Canada said most of the property damaged by the storm involved vehicles on the highway, but some buildings in and around Innisfail may also have been damaged. “We’re starting to see reports of some damage to some infrastructure,” said meteorologist Jesse Wagar. Wagar said the storm moved across the province quickly from the west, dropping its largest hail — about softball-sized pieces, about 10 centimeters — near Markerville, southwest of Red Deer. Along the QEII, it was about the size of a baseball.

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“Right now, we haven’t seen anything to indicate that a tornado has actually touched down, but there have been some reports of funnel clouds,” he said. “Those storms continued to move east, southeast. They turned into a wind-related storm where we saw some wind damage near Trochu and hail sizes started to drop.”

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Courtenay, BC, Mayor Bob Wells, on a family road trip in the area, was among those trapped on the highway Monday afternoon. He posted a short live on Facebook, which has since been viewed more than 130,000 times, showing the damage to his truck – a sunken windshield, faded sunroofs, dents all over the exterior of the vehicle and a broken rear passenger window. Wells said once the glass sunroofs broke, water started pouring out. He and his son raised the shades to protect themselves from the hail as the family was sheltered under blankets. “You could feel the hailstorm of them trying to get past the little headliner issue,” he said. “If a big one hit right where your hand was, it hurt excruciatingly. So my son and I are bruised.”

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Hailstorm just outside of Red Deer Posted by Bob Wells on Monday, August 1, 2022

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Wells, a former body technician, said his truck was likely written off, as were many of the other vehicles on the highway. However, he and his family are continuing their journey in a rental vehicle – one they were lucky enough to pick up from a busy shop in Red Deer – while the damage to their van is assessed. Red Deer’s Matt Berry was also caught in the storm. He said he was leaving a golf course in Innisfail, noting the looming clouds and weather warnings. As he climbed to the top of Antler Hill, he noticed several cars parked on the side of the road and some smaller hail began to fall. Once he pulled it, “that’s when it really started to come down to the hammer.” “Once the hail started hitting the windshield, which took the brunt of it, you’re afraid it’s going to start falling,” Berry said. “Glass was flying all over me, so I just ducked and covered until my glass stopped shattering.”

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Berry said the worst parts of the storm lasted about eight minutes. He said ambulances, fire crews and Mounties arrived soon after, and several Good Samaritans driving by after the storm offered rides to those stranded on the highway. The Red Deer region is forecast to see more rain and storms throughout the week, although Environment Canada had not issued any new warnings for more severe storms as of Tuesday morning. However, Wagar noted that July and early August mark Alberta’s peak storm season, and residents should prepare for severe weather by downloading an alert app that will push warnings to their phones. “And then, of course, you have a plan for what to do to stay safe when you get those alerts,” he said. “It’s important to get through this at the start of every severe weather season.”

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[email protected] Twitter: @michaelrdrguez

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