Twin Storms Blow Through Calgary

Eric Chaney
Published: August 5,2015

Residents of Calgary, Alberta, were surprised Tuesday afternoon by two storms that dumped rain and hail across the city.
Thunderstorms developed in the foothills in the mid afternoon and the first one to hit the city blew through north Calgary just before 5 p.m., Environment Canada meteorologist Ron Mark told the Metro news. A second storm then passed through the southern part of the city shortly after.
Cars were stranded, downtown underpasses flooded, trees were knocked down, manhole covers were blown clear off, and the roof of a housing complex in the northeast was torn up, the Calgary Emergency Management Agency told the Calgary Herald.

Sue Henry, deputy chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, told the Global News that 911 received six times the average number of calls during the storm. More than 100 service calls remained for trees that had been downed on Tuesday night. “To our knowledge no one has been injured as a result,” Henry said around 8 p.m. Tuesday night.
Utility company Enmax reported power outages for  up to 20,000 residents Tuesday afternoon, says CBC News, but service was restored to all but a handful of districts in southeast Calgary by 9 p.m. ​
Though the power was mostly back on, the storm was still disrupting traffic Wednesday morning, with a pair of road closures due to plugged storm drains near downtown, on the Langevin bridge and on 9th Avenue under Blackfoot Trail, reports the Calgary Herald.
(WATCH: July Hail in Calgary)
As shocked as many residents seemed to be on social media, Environment Canada says that on average, July is the most active month of the year for hail. Two-thirds of Canada’s major documented hail storms have occurred in Alberta, and eight of Canada’s 18 largest hail insurance claims have involved the City of Calgary.
MORE: Hail Photos From Calgary