Nine metre wall of ice destroys homes in Canada

Residents of Ochre Beach in Manitoba, Canada are facing a huge clear-up operation after their homes were destroyed by a nine-metre high wall of ice that swept in from nearby Dauphin Lake on Friday evening.

Sky News reports that strong winds of up to 55mph pushed massive ice floes from the lake onto surrounding properties. Fortunately no one was injured, but 12 homes were totally destroyed and a further 15 were damaged.

One local official, Clayton Watts, told the Winnipeg Free Press that the incident unfolded in a matter of minutes. He said: "They (local residents) heard it before they saw it (the ice) coming up their decks. Then it came right in their front windows. It was just a matter of minutes. Fortunately, no one was hurt. We were very lucky."

A local state of emergency was declared, and residents were evacuated on Friday night.

The following day, authorities began using heavy equipment to move the ice and hundreds of local residents arrived to help with the clear-up operation.

Mr Watts said: "They got a lot done. They had an unbelievable amount of people working out there; all kinds of friends and people from around other beaches.

"Everybody was pitching in to help them (residents) make it through the day. It was a good community effort."

Mr Watts explained that the ice wave was particularly devastating, given that many residents had only just recovered from severe flooding in the area in 2011.



Click on the image below to see news footage of the ice wave...

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