What was meant to be a one-day visit with friends in the Lac La Biche region turned into an overnight ordeal for an Alberta family of six, when a powerful storm brought down trees and blocked their escape route
Shaylie Lamoureux, her husband and their four kids were visiting a friend’s cabin at Seibert Lake in the Lakeland Provincial Recreation Area on Saturday, Aug. 1
Knowing bad weather was expected to hit around 11 p.m., the family got off the lake and had a quick dinner, before packing up to leave and beat the bad weather
“We could see there was an impending storm coming so we were trying to race,” Lamoureux said. “We knew we were on a timeline.”
They left the cabin around 8 p.m. to make the slow, 22-km drive along the backwoods trail, but stormy weather started earlier than expected
“There was debris flying everywhere and we were just racing to get to a clearing,” Lamoureux said. “It’s kind of something you see in the movies and you don’t think it’s ever going to happen to you, but things escalated so quickly.”
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Courtesy: Shaylie Lamoureux
But before they could get out, the storm intensified and visibility dropped to near-zero
“We couldn’t make it though. We couldn’t see anything. We were hopeful we were on the road still
“We just got hit with waves and walls of hail and trees.”
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The family found a clearing away to wait out the storm, which lasted for hours. It toppled dozens of trees — including several that fell across the road the family was travelling on, leaving them stranded
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Courtesy: Shaylie Lamoureux
After the storm passed, Lamoureux and her family tried to clear a path themselves
“We need our chainsaw. We have to get out of this,” she said
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“Suddenly, as we started cutting our way out, we knew we weren’t going to make it out of this,” she said, explaining whenever they took a break from using their chainsaw, all they could hear was more trees falling around them
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Courtesy: Natasha Chapdelaine
Despite spotty cellphone service, Lamoureux was eventually able to contact her friend Natasha Chapdelaine, who lives nearby
Chapdelaine and her family headed to the area and discovered other campers were also trapped by fallen trees
“It was hard to believe the magnitude of the storm that hit that area,” Chapdelaine said
“Everything closer to where Shaylie and her family her stuck was the worst of the storm.”
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Courtesy: Natasha Chapdelaine
Hours later, they returned with equipment in an attempt to clear the route, but were unable to reach those stranded before nightfall
“It was defeating for us that we couldn’t get to them at night,” Chapdelaine said, explaining about 20 km of trail had to be cleaned up
“There’s been lots of safety concerns with this road. The narrowness of it. Difficult for vehicles to pass in the winter. There’s always fallen trees. There’s very little cellphone service.”
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Courtesy: Natasha Chapdelaine
Chapdelaine said both women called 911 around 2 a.m. Sunday and expected help would arrive sooner
“By morning, when I touched base with her at 7:30 a.m., no one had got there. They were still stranded,” Chapdelaine said of her friends
Lamoureux said emergency crews did not reach her family until about 11:30 a.m
“We spent 15 hours on the trail overnight.”
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Both women are questioning why emergency alerts were not issued and why it took so long for help to arrive
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Courtesy: Shaylie Lamoureux
“We definitely felt like they didn’t take our call seriously,” Chapdelaine said. “There could have been people hurt at the campsite. There was no cellphone service and there was no way to know
“So, the fact that they didn’t treat it like an imminent emergency was a bit disappointing.”
Early findings from the Northern Tornadoes Project suggest the storm damage was caused by straight-line winds from one or two downbursts, rather than a tornado
Researchers continue to investigate damage reports around Siebert Lake, as well as Garner Lake, Floatingstone Lake and Pinehurst Lake
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Courtesy: Natasha Chapdelaine
It remains unclear which authority was responsible for the road where the family became trapped
The Municipal District of Bonnyville said it does not own or operate the affected road and campground. However Alberta Parks says the majority of Seibert Lake Road is administered and maintained by the municipality
In a statement, the municipality said it became involved when the situation developed into a public safety concern and dispatched available municipal re
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Courtesy: Natasha Chapdelaine
Alberta Forestry and Parks said it sent a park ranger, two eight-person forestry crews and an extra four-person forestry crew to help the municipality clear the road and restore access
The exit access was successfully restored by 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 2, however Alberta Parks said other roads are still affected
“The access road for the campground remains closed, and anyone planning to stay at Seibert Lake Campground should make alternate plans until the road is reopened to the public by the MD of Bonnyville,” the province said
Despite her concerns about the delay, Lamoureux said her family was fortunate to escape without serious injuries. She said the experience has convinced her to be better prepared for emergencies in the future, including carrying emergency supplies when travelling
“We were lucky we made it through,” she said
