{"id":526001,"date":"2026-03-10T04:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T04:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/526001\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T04:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T04:16:10","slug":"repairs-underway-in-parts-of-alberta-after-powerful-winds-batter-roofs-force-a-school-to-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/526001\/","title":{"rendered":"Repairs underway in parts of Alberta after powerful winds batter roofs, force a school to close"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty intimidating,\u201d said Romac Roofing\u2019s Taylor MacMillan.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people were missing either half of their roof or their whirlybirds were off. Their vents were off, leading to holes in the roofs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the strongest winds we saw were actually in the Andrew area. We saw 113-kilometre [per hour] wind gusts there \u2014 [in] Vegreville, we saw 107 kilometres an hour,\u201d he said. Both communities are about 100 kilometres east of Edmonton.<\/p>\n

Proctor said winds in the Edmonton area were somewhat lighter, but strengthened significantly as the system moved east.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MacMillan noted the wind gusts in Edmonton were powerful enough to cause damage, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the first couple of hours, we had about 30 calls come in,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople were missing a whole bunch of shingles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ARepair work takes place on the roof of a house in Spruce Grove after a windstorm swept across parts of Alberta on March 8, 2026. (Submitted by Taylor MacMillan)<\/p>\n

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

This is where high winds also caused some damage to a health facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vermillion Health Centre had minor exterior damage due to the high winds this weekend,\u201d Alberta Health Services told CBC News in an email. \u201cThe facility did lose power; however, it was immediately restored by the backup generators.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll patients and staff were safe through the storm, and there was no change to patient care.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In some cases, she said, homeowners were left with large sections of their roofs missing.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It could cost] thousands of dollars for the people that are missing almost half the roof,\u201d MacMillan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just blunt force. It did not discriminate on whose house it hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Truck rollovers on highways<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually feel that the numbers are likely higher than that,\u201d said Cpl. Troy Savinkoff, a public information officer with the Alberta RCMP. \u201cThose are just the six that we could kind of pull off right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Savinkoff said while he understands the economic pressure to keep trucks moving, safety should come first during extreme weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially empty loads. \u2026 [They have a] high likelihood of overturning in winds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt automatically has a natural sway. If you tack on the winds [and] you have a little bit of speed, it\u2019s now compounding the issue. That\u2019s how we see these semis [are] overturning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AIn Swan Hills, Alta., powerful wind gusts caused damage on March 8, 2026, forcing the closure of Swan Hills School until further notice. (Submitted by Pembina Hills School Division)School closure<\/p>\n

In the northern Alberta town of Swan Hills, severe storm damage forced the closure of Swan Hills School until further notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s significant,\u201d said Brett Cooper, superintendent of Pembina Hills School Division.<\/p>\n

He said \u201cthe main roof structure\u201d of the school\u2019s swimming pool was blown off during the storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it was blown off, there was further damage to the side of the school,\u201d Cooper said, adding that as a precaution, he decided to close the building while the extent of the damage is still being determined.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith 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.”<\/p>\n

\"TwoSupt. Brett Cooper said Swan Hills School sustained significant damage during a windstorm, forcing it to close down until further notice. (Submitted by Pembina Hills School division)<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe hope that this doesn\u2019t last long,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

More extreme weather possible<\/p>\n

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

\u201c[There could be] more high-amplitude weather, if I can put it that way, more significant weather in the future associated with climate change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Fortis Alberta, at the peak of the storm, about 15,000 of the utility provider\u2019s customers across Alberta were impacted by power outages.<\/p>\n

A Fortis Alberta spokesperson said it was important for people to remember the importance of\u00a0 staying away from downed power lines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A quiet Sunday quickly turned chaotic for the owner of an Edmonton-based roofing company as dozens of homeowners…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":{"0":"post-526001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-edmonton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}