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Hailstorm, flash flooding slam Calgary, knocks out power to 20k customers

The power went out in neighbourhoods all over Calgary after the city was slammed by hail as a severe thunderstorm passed through late Tuesday afternoon.

Heavy rain causes flooding on many major routes throughout city, C-Trains delayed

CBC News ·
Hail slammed downtown Calgary late Tuesday afternoon. (Submitted by Sabri Shawa)

The power went out in neighbourhoods across Calgary after the city was slammed by hail as a severe thunderstorm passed through on Tuesday afternoon.

As many as 20,000 customers in many parts of Calgary were without power in the early evening "due to adverse weather conditions," Enmax said. Power was restored to all but a handful of districts in southeast Calgary by 9 p.m. ​

The rain caused flooding on Crowchild Trail between Fifth Avenue and Memorial Drive N.W. and other major routes throughout the city, from 17th Avenue near 14th Street in the southwest to Bow Bottom Trail in the deep south.

Several underpasses in the city's downtown were closed because of flooding, said Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) deputy chief Susan Henry. 

Downed trees, manhole covers blown off and even a roof ripped from a housing complex in the city's northeast led to hundreds of 911 calls, she said. 

The storm did not cause any injuries though, she added. 

Environment Canada had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Calgary as well as communities to the north and east at 4:40 p.m., saying the storm could bring "very strong wind gusts, quarter to Toonie size hail and heavy rain."

All LRT routes were experiencing delays because of heavy rain and hail on the tracks and at the switches, Calgary Transit tweeted. By about 8 p.m. trains were moving slowly on all routes. 

  • Did the storm hit your area? Send us your pictures and videos to @CBCCalgary on Twitter or email them to webcalgary@cbc.ca
Hailstones almost as large as a quarter hit parts of Calgary during Tuesday's brief storm. (Submitted by Benjamin Tomlin)
Hail covered the ground in the area around CBC Calgary in northwest Calgary. (Evelyne Asselin/CBC)
Stephanie Edgington tweeted this picture of her street in the aftermath of Tuesday's storm. (@MrsE128/Twitter)
Parts of Bow Bottom Trail in southeast Calgary were underwater after the storm. (Colleen Underwood/CBC)
Parts of Queensland Place in southeast Calgary became a waterway. (Submitted by Edita Antonchuk)

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