A quiet Sunday quickly turned chaotic for the owner of an Edmonton-based roofing company as dozens of homeowners suddenly began calling about major roof damage caused by powerful winds.

“It was pretty intimidating,” said Romac Roofing’s Taylor MacMillan.

“Some people were missing either half of their roof or their whirlybirds were off. Their vents were off, leading to holes in the roofs.”

Brian Proctor, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said an intense cold front moving rapidly across Alberta brought powerful winds to a large swath of the province, affecting many communities.

“Some of the strongest winds we saw were actually in the Andrew area. We saw 113-kilometre [per hour] wind gusts there — [in] Vegreville, we saw 107 kilometres an hour,” he said. Both communities are about 100 kilometres east of Edmonton.

Proctor said winds in the Edmonton area were somewhat lighter, but strengthened significantly as the system moved east. 

MacMillan noted the wind gusts in Edmonton were powerful enough to cause damage, however.

“Within the first couple of hours, we had about 30 calls come in,” she said. “People were missing a whole bunch of shingles.”

Once the weather system passed through Edmonton, Proctor said it intensified while moving through an area stretching from Elk Island National Park to Vermilion.

This is where high winds also caused some damage to a health facility.

“The Vermillion Health Centre had minor exterior damage due to the high winds this weekend,” Alberta Health Services told CBC News in an email. “The facility did lose power; however, it was immediately restored by the backup generators. 

“All patients and staff were safe through the storm, and there was no change to patient care.” 

MacMillan said her crews spent Sunday responding to the most urgent repair requests and will continue working through a busy week ahead as calls are still trickling in.

In some cases, she said, homeowners were left with large sections of their roofs missing.

“[It could cost] thousands of dollars for the people that are missing almost half the roof,” MacMillan said.

“It was just blunt force. It did not discriminate on whose house it hit.”

Truck rollovers on highways

The winds also created dangerous conditions on highways across the province. Alberta RCMP said officers responded to at least six overturned semi-trucks on Sunday.

“We actually feel that the numbers are likely higher than that,” said Cpl. Troy Savinkoff, a public information officer with the Alberta RCMP. “Those are just the six that we could kind of pull off right now.”

Savinkoff said emergency responders attended the scenes, but no injuries were reported. The incidents occurred across multiple regions, including Lloydminster and other parts of central Alberta.

Savinkoff said while he understands the economic pressure to keep trucks moving, safety should come first during extreme weather.

“Especially empty loads. … [They have a] high likelihood of overturning in winds,” he said.

“It automatically has a natural sway. If you tack on the winds [and] you have a little bit of speed, it’s now compounding the issue. That’s how we see these semis [are] overturning.”

School closure

In the northern Alberta town of Swan Hills, severe storm damage forced the closure of Swan Hills School until further notice.

“It’s significant,” said Brett Cooper, superintendent of Pembina Hills School Division.

He said “the main roof structure” of the school’s swimming pool was blown off during the storm.

“When it was blown off, there was further damage to the side of the school,” Cooper said, adding that as a precaution, he decided to close the building while the extent of the damage is still being determined.

“With the damage still being assessed by our insurance company and a structural engineer, we will wait until that evaluation is done before we make the decision to reopen the school.”

On Monday, cleanup crews were working to clear debris scattered around the schoolground. Cooper said teachers are preparing to temporarily move classes online.

“We hope that this doesn’t last long,” he said.

More extreme weather possible

Proctor said powerful wind events are not that unusual in Alberta, and climate models suggest such high-impact weather may become more common.

“[There could be] more high-amplitude weather, if I can put it that way, more significant weather in the future associated with climate change,” he said.

To be as ready as possible when powerful wind gusts are expected, Proctor encouraged people to secure loose outdoor items and to keep trees around homes trimmed and well-maintained. 

According to Fortis Alberta, at the peak of the storm, about 15,000 of the utility provider’s customers across Alberta were impacted by power outages.

A Fortis Alberta spokesperson said it was important for people to remember the importance of  staying away from downed power lines.