The 2018 Alonsa, Manitoba Tornado

A little before dark on the evening of Friday, August 3rd, a violent tornado carved a swath through aspen forest and cropland before tearing through the Margaret Bruce Beach campground on the western shores of Lake Manitoba, where numerous long weekend campers were impacted. Given a preliminary rating of EF3, the tornado was on the ground for over 20 minutes, with a damage path of up to 800m wide in places. The tornado would soon be upgraded to a low-end EF4 (with winds of nearly 275km/h) as a result of the high-end damage it caused on the property of the single fatality that occurred about 3 kilometres west of the lake. It would end up being the strongest tornado in North America in 2018.

Screenshot of the Alonsa tornado from a cell phone video, courtesy Pamela Sul.  See links below for more footage.

Cell reception was spotty to non-existent near the beach, so the cell phone alerts were largely missed. A few campers at the beach had signal boosters, who were able to alert others nearby that a tornado was approaching. At the last minute, many folks drove west down the only road to and from the beach, which ended up being toward the tornado. Some made it out ahead of the tornado, and some did not. The ones who didn't, along with the rest of the folks at the beach, joined in an impressive effort to shelter in the homes of local residents. Residents of one home had 40 people in their basement, which ended up essentially untouched, while the neighbour's house sustained severe damage.

There were numerous stories of survival that bordered on the miraculous (see links below). Given a scene that was eerily reminiscent of Alberta's Pine Lake tornado in 2000, it very easily could have turned out a lot worse.

Seeing the damage firsthand, and also experiencing the smell of raw, torn up Earth, was a little overwhelming. I had the privilege of speaking with many of the survivors, hearing their harrowing stories, and in many cases being able to tell them. I also got to hear an audio recording of the tornado ripping a cabin off its foundation, with 14 frightened people hiding in the basement. A trailer crashed into the centre of the basement, and a family dog went missing as the tornado passed. To hear the recording alongside the family who struggled to relive the moment as it played was chilling. I will never forget that.

Below, I share links to some of the stories and footage that came of this tornado, along with photographs of the destruction. 

Click here for an interview with Les Brown on his step-father Jack Furrie, 77, who was killed on his property. Also, from a damage survey specialist, who explains the upgrade to EF4.

Click here for stories of campers at the beach who tried to flee the tornado.

Click here for more stories of survival, and the lack of cell reception.

Click here for the story of the family who hid 40 people in their basement, and of their neighbours, who were injured.

Click here to hear about some of the seemingly miraculous occurrences at the Cabak residence.

Click here for amazing footage of the restroom building that was ripped off its foundation, leaving most toilets behind in tact.

Click here for footage of the tornado, as well as other incredible scenes of damage. 

Satellite imagery of the tornado damage scar

Trailers in general are a bad place to be with a tornado approaching.

Several vehicles and hundreds of hay bales were tossed into adjacent Lake Manitoba. Debris would wash ashore for days following the tornado. 

A tractor and baler weighing several tons was picked up and tossed next to the cabin where 14 people survived, despite the cabin being lifted off. 

This is the cabin where 14 people took shelter, in the NW corner by the hot water tank.  After the cabin came off, the cinder block wall on the south side collapsed inward, followed by a trailer landing in the basement, along with other debris. No one was hurt. 

Denuded trees are also a sign of a violent tornado.

Here is the campground restroom. 3 of 4 toilets still intact, despite the building being lifted off and dumped to the east. 

The foundation of Jack Furrie's home. While his bed sheets were in uprooted trees on the property, his mattress was found   nearly a kilometre to the northeast. While he didn't have a basement, there was a shallow root cellar. It is uncertain where he was when the tornado hit, but the winds were so violent here that he would have likely been in peril anywhere in his yard.

Mature trees ripped clean out of the ground a few metres east of the foundation of Furrie's home.

Ground scouring over his garden unearthed potatoes. 

Furrie's dog Brandy was still searching for him several days after the tornado 😢. 

A photo of Furrie's property several years before the tornado.

An aerial photo several days after the tornado of the same scene as above.  It is clear Furrie's home took a direct hit, based on its location in the centre of the damage swath as indicated by the aspen forest.