In the Path of the Storm

May 20, 2021

This article was done in partnership with the Lac du Bonnet & District Historical Society.
It appeared in the December 23, 2021 edition of the Lac du Bonnet Clipper.

On Wednesday, May 10, 1922 at 12:45pm, storm clouds darkened the sky. A “great black funnel-shaped cloud” appeared over the trees as a “mighty wind smote the district.” Five miles north of Lac du Bonnet, in Landerville, teacher Stanley Pitre and his family took shelter inside. The cyclone lifted the Pitre’s house clear off the foundation, bringing it down in a mass of “kindling wood.” Trees, a foot in diameter, snapped. In addition to the teacherage, the Landerville school and nearby farm buildings were destroyed. Household effects scattered for miles. In ten minutes, the wind stopped, leaving only rain. Mrs. Pitre and her eldest son were rushed to Lac du Bonnet with serious injuries, while the others escaped relatively unharmed.

At the same time, Winnipeg lost all power. Street cars and moving picture shows came to an abrupt halt. All work reached a standstill. In the hardest hit area of Lydiatt, southwest of Molson, houses and farms were leveled. A mile of Winnipeg Electric Company and Winnipeg Hydro powerlines were devastated: 34 transmission towers bent and twisted, the cables torn from the insulators, landing over 100 yards into the bush. A half-mile of telephone and CPR telegraph poles were also broken, some ripped out of the ground.

While Winnipeg lamented the loss of their electric ranges and the cancellation of Pantages’ matinee, families in the path of the cyclone emerged to find their entire livelihood gone. Wind carried machinery upwards of one mile and drove lumber three feet into the ground. Insurance policies did not cover “loss by hurricane.”

Crews from Winnipeg rushed out to repair the damaged lines, while the auxiliary steam plant on Mill Street supplied power to industrial businesses within 45 minutes. Street car service resumed in two hours. A large portion of the city remained dark. At midnight, a special train left Winnipeg with another 15 linesmen, specialized equipment and food supplies bound for the devastated area.

Throughout the next day, residents, farmers and company employees worked to “bring order to great chaos.”  A temporary line of 30 cedar poles filled the gap in the transmission line. By 5pm, Winnipeg’s normal power was restored. Attention turned to the construction of a second temporary line to carry the current while the permanent line was repaired. Costs were estimated at $60,000, with new towers built of heavier steel to withstand future storms.

On May 12, five members of the Pitre family arrived at the Winnipeg CPR station. They were the first victims to arrive in Winnipeg suffering from storm-related injuries. No casualties were reported besides one horse and one cow.

The cyclone made headlines across the province for weeks. Strong storms continued throughout the summer of 1922. On June 22, multiple devastating tornadoes touched down across southern Manitoba, once again damaging power transmission lines near Lydiatt. The Lac du Bonnet region was hit with heavy winds, rain and “hens’ egg” sized hail. This storm still ranks as one of the worst in Canadian history.

References:

“Cyclone Damages Power Plants and Wrecks Buildings East of Winnipeg.” Manitoba Free Press (Winnipeg, MB), May 11, 1922.

“Aftermath of Storm in Lydiatt District.” Manitoba Free Press, May 12, 1922.

“Normal Power Service Restored in Winnipeg.” Manitoba Free Press, May 12, 1922.

“Temporary Pole Lines in Cyclone District.” Manitoba Free Press, May 13, 1922.

“$60,000 to Repair Power Line.” Manitoba Free Press, May 22, 1922.

“Winnipeg Suffers Heavy Property Loss; Hydro Systems Badly Crippled.” Manitoba Free Press, June 24, 1922.

Aileen Oder, ed., Logs and Lines from the Winnipeg River: A History of the Lac du Bonnet Area (Steinbach, MB: Derksen Printers, 1980), 229-230.