A tsunami made of ice flooded a small lakeside community at Manitoba in Canada on Friday, May 10. The ice flood coming from the nearby lake hit over two dozen homes, leaving residents in panic while also damaging homes.
The unusual occurrence happened on Friday evening and lasted for only 15 minutes. With winds blowing at about 50 mph, large lumps and pieces of ice from the nearby lake Dauphin washed towards the shore into the homes of families living in the rural community of Ochre Beach. The incident seemed like a solid tsunami, with ice entering houses and washing out homes. According to a report by CBC Canada, a total of 27 homes were affected by the ice floods, with 14 houses totally uprooted and destroyed.
Residents of the Manitoba community were shocked by the incident. Unaware, they only had a few minutes to flee the area before getting washed away too. According to NYDailyNews.com, a strong 'train-like' noise alerted the people just in time for them to evacuate safely.
"They heard it before they saw it [the wall of ice] coming up their decks," Clayton Watts, a local official told the Winnipeg Free Press. "Then it came right in their front windows. It was just a matter of minutes."
Residents of the community are devastated by the material loss it has counted against them. Notably, many of the victims don't have insurance coverage and they are hoping disaster relief will be offered to them. Thankfully though, no one was injured by the ice floods.
"Fortunately, no one was hurt," noted Watts. "We were very lucky."
This incident is yet another blow to the community that had just suffered a major disaster in 2011. A huge flood also hit the area causing destruction to property.
"Most [of the families] were just back to the stage where they were back living in their homes again. And now this has happened. So they're pretty devastated right now," noted Watts.
Clean-up efforts are already underway for the residents affected by the calamity. According to the Daily Mail, home owners are already shoveling ice off their homes that now look like huge ice buckets.