Storm knocks out power to thousands of Manitobans, spawns tornado, widespread damage ‘Super intense precipitation,’ duration of storm amazes meteorologist By: Chris Kitching Posted: 8:22 AM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2026 Last Modified: 4:52 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2026 Updates

Many Manitobans were mopping up, repairing damage or filing insurance claims Wednesday after wild storms spawned at least one tornado, dropped grapefruit-sized hail, flooded basements and knocked out electricity to tens of thousands of people.

A tornado touched down near Ste. Anne and 255 millimetres of rain — more than a month’s worth in one night — flooded areas in Stonewall as severe weather pounded southern Manitoba Tuesday and early Wednesday.

“The interesting thing is the duration of the event and the really super intense precipitation,” said Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor. “It’s not typical for us to see this kind of duration of thunderstorms.”

Some rural municipalities, including St. Andrews, Rockwell, Rosser and West Interlake, declared states of emergency owing to overland flooding, overwhelmed sewer systems and/or power outages.

The province issued new flood warnings for Stonewall, Woodlands, Inwood, Petersfield and Selkirk. The Swan River and Minitonas areas were struck by severe flooding earlier this week.

Several highways and roads were washed out and closed, said the province, which urged people to stay away from floodwater. Schools in the Interlake and some in Winnipeg were closed because of damage, power outages or flooded roads.

Manitoba Hydro crews were working to restore power to more than 25,000 customers, including about 17,000 in Winnipeg, at noon Wednesday. Some outages could last until Thursday after “one of the worst summer storm events in recent memory,” the Crown corporation said.

Extensive damage to power lines, poles and other electrical equipment resulted in about 1,000 outages. Fallen branches and uprooted trees were largely to blame. Manitobans were urged to stay away from downed power lines.

Hydro warned additional thunderstorms Wednesday could cause further damage and complicate restoration efforts.

Manitoba Public Insurance had received more than 8,000 claims, including hail, flood and wind damage, as of Wednesday afternoon. The number is expected to rise. MPI said customers may face delays owing to the high number of claims.

Environment Canada received reports of grapefruit-sized hail in Otterburne. Hail in Winnipeg was as large as tennis balls.

Stonewall was the hardest hit for rainfall. Winnipeg received varying amounts, including 122 mm at The Forks and 50 mm at the airport. The city averages 74 mm of rain for all of June.

City of Winnipeg crews were dealing with sewer backups and clearing debris from catch basins and culverts to help water drain from flooded roads and underpasses where drivers became stranded.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service’s 911 communications centre had received an extremely high number of emergency calls — 851 — between 6 p.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday, the city said. Of those, 132 involved downed power lines and other electrical hazards, and 10 were for possible structure fires.

By 9 a.m. Wednesday, the city’s 311 service had received 122 reports of raw sewage backups and 79 calls about sewer backups involving clean water.

Fort Rouge resident Darryl Balasko was assessing damage and removing belongings in his finished basement, which flooded when brown water backed up through a toilet.

“The water was just like a fountain coming out of the toilet,” he said. “Immediately, you just go into shock and then you just think, ‘What can one do when that happens?’ It’s kind of a panic, but then logic tells you there’s nothing you can do.”

“The water was just like a fountain coming out of the toilet.”

Balasko, who contacted his insurance provider, said some belongings were floating in up to five inches (127 mm) of water, which later drained into the sewer.

Carpet, flooring tiles and drywall have to be ripped out. Furniture, family photos and other belongings were soaked.

“It was dirty water, but what’s left mostly is leaves and a lot of seeds from elm trees,” he said. “You’d think that it was sewer water from the main line that was just overpowered.”

Water backed up into other homes on Dudley Avenue, Balasko said. The homeowners were considering contacting the city to learn more about the situation.

“We just got all our sewer and water done on our street a little over a year ago,” Balasko said. “My understanding is they were separating (the single pipe that carried sewage and rainwater) so overland water would go into one pipe and sewage into the other.

“It just kind of makes me think, if that was sewage water, why am I getting leaves and seeds in my basement as well?”

Homeowners, businesses, farmers, municipalities and others with storm damage will likely face hefty costs. A provincial spokesperson said it will become clearer whether a disaster financial assistance program will be set up once the response phase is over.

Tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were widespread at the height of the outbreak, triggering repeated emergency alerts on mobile phones.

The Northern Tornadoes Project, based at Western University in London, Ont., confirmed the tornado near Ste. Anne based on photos and videos from witnesses. An NTP team from the University of Manitoba is investigating storm damage.

NTP director David Sills said the tornado near Ste. Anne, about 35 kilometres east of Winnipeg, has not yet been assigned a rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale. No damage was reported.

Sills said the cause of damage to commercial buildings at an industrial park in Selkirk, and a possible tornado near Dufrost, about 60 km south of Winnipeg, are being investigated, along with other reports.

“We’re working through all of those images and the witness reports that go with them to sort out what was a tornado and what wasn’t,” he said.

In Selkirk, Mayor Larry Johannson said trees were down throughout the city, about 30 km north of Winnipeg.

City crews worked throughout the night to clean up debris and keep drainage and sewer systems operating. The cleanup efforts continued into Wednesday, he said. Oak Hammock Marsh, north of Winnipeg, was closed Tuesday due to flooding.

Sills said NTP received a lot of reports about a possible tornado in a storm near Winnipeg’s airport, but it determined the column wasn’t rotating and likely was not a tornado.

Some flights were forced to divert Tuesday. The Winnipeg Airports Authority said some outbound passengers faced long delays because of “persistent lightning.”

Environment Canada said tornado reports were being investigated near Grunthal, Morris and Otterburne, along with others in the Parklands area in western Manitoba.

Sills said Manitoba experienced waves of thunderstorms largely because of moisture from the south.

“That Gulf moisture getting up that far to the Prairies, when that happens that provides a lot of fuel for thunderstorms and the rain as well,” he said.

“As the climate is changing, one of the things that is happening is more and more moisture is being held by the atmosphere, and when you have thunderstorms, more and more rain is falling and causing these flash floods.”

Three tornadoes have been confirmed this season — near Douglas, Manitou and Sperling, all on June 2.

Tuesday’s top wind gusts were 130 km/h in Dand and Deloraine. Gusts reached 94 km/h in Winnipeg, where Mayor Scott Gillingham saluted city staff who worked around the clock to respond to the storms and the aftermath.

He said the city’s emergency management office prepared for severe weather before it hit.

“I want to acknowledge a lot of residents in Winnipeg were hard hit,” Gillingham said. “A lot of basement flooding, hail damage in places, power outages.”

He said his car was “pummelled with hail” when he was caught in the storm while driving.

At Princess Auto’s new flagship store at 500 Panet Rd., staff worked throughout the night to help people respond to flooding.

Sean Procewiat, owner of Sean’s Premium Property Maintenance, purchased a sump pump at 3 a.m. for a customer in Dugald whose basement flooded after a pump failed.

“The customer’s pump was burnt out because of pumping so much water. We got it repaired and water pumping, saving a flooded basement,” he said.

A “small number” of Winnipeg Regional Health Authority facilities had minor storm-related water leaks, a spokesperson said. Hospitals and other facilities were open and operational, with no surgeries or procedures affected, and minimal disruption to patient care and services, the spokesperson said.

— With files from Malak Abas, Nicole Buffie, Maggie Macintosh and Joyanne Pursaga

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

In pictures: One stormy night in June

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

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