'It's unbelievable to see what Mother Nature can actually do': The unforgettable trauma and photos of the Pine Lake tornado 25 years later
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Pine Lake tornado, that killed 12 people and injured 200 others. The traumatic disaster has stayed with many people for years. The following article was first published on the 20th anniversary of the tornado, five years ago.
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Calgary Herald; July 13, 2020; By Bill Kaufmann
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As the first semblance of order descended on the chaos, the authorities barred Barry Boutin from discovering the fate of his parents caught in the tornado's path.
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He'd later glimpse the battered and lifeless body of his father being carried from the remains of the Green Acres trailer park in a newspaper photo.
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Years after the Pine Lake tornado took the life of Charles 'Pete' Boutin and 11 others — and left about 200 others injured — memories of the traumatic disaster have dimmed somewhat, but remain detailed for the Calgarian.
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His mother Jackie, who'd barely survived being hurled 25 metres by the winds and pummelled by shrapnel, 'looked like a pin cushion,' recalled Boutin.
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She and her husband held onto whatever they could when the F3-force tornado — packing winds of up to 300 km/h — roared into the tidy trailer park at dinner time on Friday, July 14, 2000.
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'It sucked them from the trailer, which was obliterated. . . Everything got launched,' said Boutin.
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He still doesn't understand the quirk of fate that spared his sister and daughter, then six years old, who were in nearby Red Deer and begged off being with his parents at Green Acres that day.
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'My mom called them and said it's beautiful and hot,' said Boutin. 'All of them would have been there; for whatever reason they weren't.'
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Boutin's parents had spent a quarter-century of summers at the trailer park, where his father was a familiar fixture and well known for his sunflowers.
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