Arena damaged by storm in Foxwarren, Man., might not be repaired in time to reopen this winter

August 26, 2024 Canuck

An arena in tiny Foxwarren, Man., wrecked by a storm that ripped off a section of its roof, might not be ready to reopen in time for hockey season this winter, leaving residents without their only community gathering place.

Stormy weather rolled through the small community, located just south of Russell near the Saskatchewan border, and peeled the cladding off the rink’s roof on Sunday.

Scott Wotton, a board member at Foxwarren Arena, told CBC News Monday that an assessment of the damages will determine whether the arena’s roof cover and rafters were the only parts of the building compromised during the storm, or if further repairs are needed before it can open to the public again.

With only a few weeks left before the start of hockey, skating and figure skating programming in early October, it is unclear whether the arena will be ready on time.

“It could ruin the hockey season this year,” Wotton said.

The arena has the only rink in the community, and while there are other rinks with artificial and natural ice close to Foxwarren, they are only accessible by car, Wotton said.

“Hopefully, we can get things fixed back up in time,” he said.

Portion of a metal and wooden roof stands on the ground, besides a building. — Cleanup is underway Monday to remove debris left after a storm hit Foxwarren on the weekend. (Submitted by Danny Johnston)

Wind gusts of 90 to 110 km/h hit the southwestern Manitoba community on Sunday morning. A meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada previously told CBC News the storm was a “bow echo,” so-named because it’s shaped like an archer’s bow on radar. The intense storms are not uncommon on the Prairies.

As the winds picked up, Wotton said small trees were toppled and branches were scattered through Foxwarren, where fewer than 100 people live. However, the only severe structural damage reported in the community was at the town’s hockey rink.

“It made quite a mess of our arena here in town,” he said.

Cleanup of the debris left by the storm, including the ripped-off roof pieces that closed part of Highway 475, is underway on Monday.

The arena’s board is waiting for a visit from an insurance company representative who can inspect the building and estimate a timeline for the repairs.

Until then, residents have been told to stay out of the arena.

“It’s got to be fixed before anything goes on there now,” Danny Johnston, a Foxwarren resident, said Monday.

“I can’t see it being ready for this winter for hockey and stuff. It’s too late in the year.”

Johnston said the arena rink is the only place residents can gather in the small community. Summer events as well as winter sports programming are held at the rink.

“Everybody is kind of devastated and sad,” Wotton said.

“It’s going to be a big hole in our community, for sure.”

‘Never seen anything like it’: campground owner

Several vehicles and RV’s were also damaged on Sunday morning as the storm hit a campground on Lake of the Prairies, just west of Riding Mountain National Park near the Saskatchewan border.

Jodi Digby, owner of Pyott’s campground, told CBC News at least 85 guests were at the campsite when a heavy downpour and strong wind gusts rolled through, bending trees sideways and snapping branches that smashed through the windows of some vehicles.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, to be honest,” she said.

A tree falls on the ground besides a camper — The owners at Pyott’s campground on Lake of the Prairies say they will be cleaning up downed trees for more than a week after a storm rolled through the site Sunday morning. (Submitted by Stacey Revert)

One of the trees toppled over a truck, and at the time the truck’s owner was inside a camper that was later smashed by another downed tree.

“It [the downed tree] came down in the kitchen and knocked his cupboards off,” Digby said. “He miraculously was just in the bedroom and so he was safe.”

A mature tree was also uprooted, falling close to the campground’s diner, and was only stopped by the branch of another tree, which prevented the toppled tree from wrecking one of the site’s power lines.

“We were all mostly in shock, running on adrenaline and making sure everybody was okay,” Digby said, adding it will take at least a week to clean up all the downed trees.

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