Waldheim tornado leaves uprooted trees, damaged homes and businesses

As people in the town of Waldheim eagerly awaited news of power being back on in their town on Saturday, along with the ability to shower and access wifi once again, many were also cleaning up in the wake of an unconfirmed tornado that hit early Friday night.

Power was restored by mid-afternoon on Saturday and residents in the community say that the storm that passed through was “definitely a tornado.”

Neighbours pointed to Duane and Desiree Janzen’s home as the worst hit in the community.

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Duane Janzen, who works at a nearby farm, was home with their kids, Lacey and Regan, when the storm hit.

He said they saw the storm clouds gather from their driveway around 4:40 p.m., and as golfball- and baseball-sized hail began, they ran to the house for cover.

“The hail was coming down so big and so hard that it was hitting us in the ankles as it exploded on the driveway,” Janzen said.

From the window in their sunroom, they continued to watch the storm until water started to rise up out of the eavestroughs. Then their ears popped as the air pressure dropped.

Janzen said he and the kids went to the basement to take shelter. The three heard crashing and banging as the storm was happening.

“When we came back out, it was still raining hard, hailing a little bit and everything was flat.” Janzen said.

Falling trees damaged the roof of Duane and Desiree Janzen’s home in Waldheim on July 10, 2026. (Libby Gray/650 CKOM)

The storm ripped out at least 10-12 trees which Duane had planted along with his siblings when he lived in the same home as a child. The air around the home smelled like Christmas because of the evergreen boughs that had been ripped up and strewn about the property.

Judging the damage in the daylight the next day, Janzen was fastening a tarp on the roof of his home, where all the shingles had been stripped off and rainwater had flooded in as a result. Janzen is trying to prevent more water from getting into the house with more storms in the forecast for Saturday evening.

The house’s porch was also damaged where trees fell on it. Janzen and his wife were surprised and grateful that his truck, which had been parked under those same trees, emerged from the storm almost without a scratch.

A few years ago, Janzen witnessed the Carstairs tornado. He said it was a different experience this time, being in the path of destruction and not seeing the tornado that ultimately damaged their home.

Janzen said he’s proud of his kids for doing exactly what they needed to do during the storm.

“Trees can be replanted and and roofs can be fixed, right?” Janzen said, saying how thankful he is that nobody was hurt.

From left Cindy Loewen and her daughter, Shylah Loewen, with the downed tree in the yard from Friday’s storm. (Libby Gray/650 CKOM)

Just a bit down the road, the Loewen family is working to clear their yard of one very tall tree that was entirely uprooted from their lawn.

Cindy Loewen said she wasn’t too concerned when the baseball-sized hail began to fall, or when their trampoline started to lift off the ground. But when her husband saw the base of the tree start to strain from their yard, they all ran to the basement for cover.

Loewen said she was glad the tree hadn’t gone through a window into their home or onto the road.

“I honestly didn’t think anything was going to happen because we have had so many warnings, and they never have happened,” she said, describing herself and her husband as “pretty calm in the face of crisis.

“So, honestly, I wasn’t scared … I was just like, ‘Ah, we’ll deal with whatever comes.’”

She said the funnel clouds that they saw forming just before the worst of the storm hit them were neat to see, something she had never experienced before. Now, a day later, she’s been enjoying the chance to talk to neighbours who have been visiting to survey their damage.

While she and her husband were holding down the fort at home, Loewen was concerned about her children, who were at Redberry Bible Camp working as camp counsellors.

Shylah Loewen, 16, said the rain began as they were doing some clean up at the camp.

They all went into the dining hall, she recalled, before having to find better shelter when the large pieces of hail started to fall.

“It was pretty crazy,” Shylah said.

“The doors were shaking everywhere and then we went outside afterwards and like, over 100 trees were uprooted the canoes flew miles and like boats and shelters just, like, exploded and flew everywhere.”

Shylah said a few campers were there with them, and a few people were rattled by the storm.

“I thought it was pretty cool,” she said, smiling.

“I like this kind of stuff, and I knew that I was safe, but I also don’t think I knew the extent of it. But it was, I don’t know, entertaining and an adventure.”

She said volunteers are at the camp now, cleaning up the debris left behind before camp begins again on Monday. She, however, returned home to help with their own storm cleanup.

In the rough: Twister tears through local golf course

Waldheim’s Pineridge Golf Course saw some significant damage from the storm, to the dismay of Trevor Hiebert.

The general manager of Waldheim Regional Park said the damage was mostly around the course’s sixth hole.

“It’s never going to be the same,” he said, sadly.

“We’ve had storms like plow winds and stuff come through in the past, but we’ve never had anything like this,” Waldheim shared.

“This was definitely a tornado. We got trees uprooted in two directions and stuff.”

Dozens of trees, some 50 years old, were uprooted, snapped and otherwise mangled by the storm. Strewn along with the natural debris are big pieces of twisted metal from a building’s roof across the road from that side of the golf course. Metal barrels and large portions of plastic tubing were blown into the area.

Nearby, SaskPower crews repaired damaged power lines and a barn down the road had been flattened by the storm.

Hiebert and a staff member at the course said the tornado appeared to have travelled through or very close to the sixth hole.

Like others in town, Hiebert is waiting to talk to his insurance provider to learn the extent of the damage, but said he’s also concerned about business interruption. Though some workers were already clearing debris, he estimated it will be several days, at least, before the golf course could reopen.

Highway store looks right out of a movie set after tornado

Ahtahkakoop River Bend Store looks like the general store right out of the movie Twister after the Friday night storm, with damaged trees around and parts of the roof now on the ground.

While Chelsea Primeau, the site supervisor of the store, had left for the night only about 20 minutes before the tornado touched down behind the store, she said two of her employees were inside the whole time.

Maizey Matchap and Jaden Sasakamoose, who are also dating, were both working at the store when the storm hit. They were outside when the loonoie-sized hail began, and said the whole storm happened so quickly, they didn’t have time to prepare.

“We realized that it was really, really dark coming from the bridge, and we heard a bunch of thunder,” Matchap recalled, sharing that the two usually enjoy sitting outside and watching storms like these.

From left, Chelsea Primeau, Maizey Matchap and Jaden Sasakamoose stand outside the damaged Ahtahkakoop River Bend Store on July 11, 2026. (Libby Gray/650 CKOM)

Then, people started pulling into the store’s parking lot from the highway, also seeing how dark the sky was getting.

“You could hear the thunder right above us, too, like really more loud and persistent than usual,” Matchap described.

They went inside the store and could see large pieces of debris flying through the air, but the two didn’t go down to the basement for shelter because a customer was in the store with them, worried about family members who were waiting in a truck outside.

Matchap and Sasakamoose said the trailer attached to that truck later flipped in the wind, but everyone inside the truck was alright.

Matchap said she cried out of fear during the storm, but thankfully only the outside of the store suffered damage. Parts of the roof were ripped off, a lightpost was torn from the cement and an awning appeared to have been lifted and set down inches away from its original spot in the strong winds.

Primeau said the damage is estimated around $100,000. She returned to the store the minute she said she started receiving messages showing the storm hitting the building. By the time she arrived, the tornado was gone.

The store’s former owner came by to survey the damage, and happily remarked that the building’s

“It’s crazy living in Saskatchewan,” she said. “Sometimes you just never know, and it happened so fast that we didn’t know what to expect.”

— with files from CKOM News

Read more:

• Photos: Saskatchewan storms drop damaging tornadoes
• Tips to survive Saskatchewan’s potentially record-breaking heat wave