Thunderstorms ripped through southern Manitoba last night. Steinbach was fortunate to get away with only thunder, lightning, wind and rain as tornadoes were reported in western and central Manitoba. There is a report of lightning striking a home in Niverville and the roof was torn off an apartment building in Winnipeg.

Rainfall in Steinbach was about 10 millimetres while Kleefeld received 13 millimetres and St Adolphe 25 millimetres.

The situation was much worse further west as outlined in the following report from Michael Blume of our sister web site in Portage la Prairie.

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More than one tornado touched down in Long Plain First Nation last night. Eric Daniels and Tarik Zeid were among a group of six boys who hid in a basement in a house when its roof was ripped away.

Daniels shares his experience.

"All of us were in the living room. And then we heard (makes crashing sounds) something crumbling. And then we were all outside. And we seen a tornado over there (points northeast), and then we all went into the basement. The roof was off, and it crumbled down into the second floor."

Zeid adds, "Me and my cousin were at the store, and then the power went out. And we looked outside and saw a tornado touched won. So, we ran back here (to the house) to warn the others. Then we stayed outside for a little bit. And then after it got deadly we all went into the cellar. Ten or fifteen minutes later, his dad came and got us. But then he said as soon as we left another one touched down, because there was a big one and then another skinny one."

Long Plain First Nation resident Valerie Contois was in her car when at least two tornadoes struck the community last night. She explains her harrowing experience.

"I was driving and I was on the west side of the band office. And I couldn't see, and my vehicle was shaking. So I drove. I couldn't tell where I was driving. But when everything cleared I was parked up against the bush. I guess that was the safest place. But it felt like I was in it, because my vehicle was shaking. And I was so scared. I've never been so scared in my life."

The Long Plain Spirit Lodge was the location for people to gather who required extra care after at least two tornadoes touched down in Long Plain First Nation last night. Arrowhead Development Corporation worker Mary Pratt was helping arrange evacuations at the lodge.

"We're doing emergencies for families that have newborns, elderly people with disabilities and health issues, and we're putting them up at Days Inn for emergency purposes. And they'll be there overnight, because the hydro will not be on probably for a couple of hours. So, we're just doing emergency for the families that need it. We already booked a bunch of rooms at Days Inn. And we'll be probably going into other motels. They're already on their way into Portage la Prairie. Hopefully we can help our community members in a good way here. That's why we're here. We're skin-tortured by mosquitoes, but we're helping them."

Long Plain wasn't the only area to feel the effects of the storm.

Lisa Medd was in her home at Southport with her kids, Treasure and Titus. She had a plan ready, and when the weather turned threatening, she and the youngsters headed to the bathroom with a mattress. She talks about what it was like when the storm hit.

"It happened very quickly. It just really, really went thick, thick gray, rain, so I really couldn't see. I could hear what was happening. I heard a really, really loud kind of whistling noise that I'd never hear before, with sort of a deeper pitch to it. And so as soon as I heard that sound, it was 'okay guys, we're going to the bathroom, grab your pillows and blankets, we're gone', so that's what we did."

The back yard of Barry Thompson's home in Southport is buried in downed trees, but his house only suffered damage to its eaves. He can't describe exactly what happened.

"I was in the back of my house, and a couple of small branches came and hit the windows, and so then I backed away, into the center of the building. And my wife and I were both in there, and then finally, when things calmed down, w looked outside, and saw this (his back yard)."

Thompson understands it could have been much worse.

The storm raced through Oakville last night as well. Resident Mark Lawrence describes what happened.

"Terrible, actually. It got really dark, and then the wind came up, and then the rain came. The rain came so hard that I could hardly see the neighbour's house out the window. Then the power went out. And then I looked out here, and saw this mess. It's pretty much the same all around town, there are trees down everywhere."

There was also damage reported at New Rosedale Colony, north of Long Plain.

So far, no injuries have been reported anywhere the storm touched down. However, power was out for many people in in the aftermath.

Another tornado was reported near Hartney in western Manitoba and tennis ball-sized hail was reported at Melita. Brandon has flooding from almost two inches of rain.