Environment Canada is looking into reports that more tornadoes swept through southern Manitoba, a day after fierce twisters caused heavy damage in the town of Elie, west of Winnipeg.

Twisters were spotted Saturday evening near Pipestone, Minto, the Canupawakpa First Nation and an area between Hartney and Deloraine.

Environment Canada officials inspect the damage in Elie on Saturday.
(John Woods/Canadian Press)

Ross Tycoles, the reeve of Pipestone, about 100 kilometres southwest of Brandon, was playing baseball when the wild weather hit. He said there was unusual cloud cover.

"Everything was moving and turbulent, up and down. There was severe lightning north of the town," he said.

Tycoles heard reports of damaged barns, garages and farm equipment near Pipestone, but no injuries. One woman he spoke to told him she was terrified as a twister passed dangerously close to her house.

Some houses were damaged on the Canupawakpa First Nation, he said.

Environment Canada, meantime, said conditions near the town of Elie, were just right for a powerful tornado on Friday.

Meteorologist Dave Carlsen said the twister that lifted four sturdy homes off their foundations was an F-4 on the Fujita scale — F-4 and F-5 being the most powerful. It was likely churning at between about 330 and 420 km/h.

Carlsen said a lot of ground moisture combined with a strong jet stream helped create the right conditions for the fearsome storm.

The tornado tore a swath 300 metres wide through the community, smashing buildings, tossing trucks around and leaving 15 people homeless.

A man driving a truck ended up with minor injuries when his vehicle flipped over, but no one was seriously hurt.

Premier Gary Doer surveyed the damage on Saturday and promised disaster assistance for Elie, a town of 550 people.

"I'm glad there's no loss of life," he said. "With the considerable amount of damage, homes totally destroyed, you can see how it must have been for families that were in the basement as their house was ripped off from on top of them, so it's pretty tough, traumatic circumstances for a lot of people right now."