Heavy winds caused a SUV to jackknife on Highway 2 south of Ponoka as well as trees downed in town late this afternoon.
Along with the jackknifed SUV, the heavy wind caused power outages in many parts of Ponoka. Residents reported the power went on and off several times with some locations out for a long period.
According to weather reports Ponoka saw wind gusts in the 70 and 80 km/h range.
The wind was strong enough that it downed trees and knocked out power lines in several locations across town, which affected residents’ power.
The Ponoka Fire Department dealt with a call of smoke in a home on the north end of town, which is believed to have been relatively minor.
At the same time the Ponoka County East and West District Fire Departments were called to deal with some downed power lines in the county.
Town electrical crews worked through the early evening to get power up and running and public works crews worked to clear trees from cars and homes. Also residents helped each other out to clear trees where they could.