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Intense winds lead to damage and power outages in Saskatchewan

It's been an unusually blustery day in Saskatchewan with winds gusting as fast as 100 km/h in parts of the province.

Environment Canada has issued a wind warning for places scattering the province including Regina, Fort Qu'Appelle, Estevan, Humboldt and Lloydminster.

Lloydminster was forecast to get the strongest wind, but Saskatoon is leading the pack so far.

SaskPower said it has received thousands of calls regarding outages and downed power lines due to the stormy conditions.

The company is urging people to stay back at least 10 metres and contact SaskPower if they see a downed power line. People are reminded that if a tree comes into contact with a power line, they should not fix or trim it.

Fort Qu'Appelle is one of the areas where the wind has led to an ongoing power outage.

On CBC Radio's Blue Sky, Erin Fletcher said she lives on top of the Qu'Appelle Valley, near Southey.

"My young pine trees are blowing over. They're not quite bent half way," she said. "The horizon is very dusty with soil."

In her yard, two horse shelters are knocked over, although luckily, no horses were in there at the time.

Fletcher said the intense winds have kept them house ridden, and they can't even distract themselves with Netflix due to the outage.

"It's too dangerous to work outside because the gusts are at least 90 (km/hr)."

Top 10 windiest locations in Saskatchewan on Wednesday (km/h):

- Saskatoon- 106.

- Yellow Grass North- 86.

- Regina- 85.

- Bratt's Lake-85.

- Indian Head- 85.

- Val Marie- 85.

- Swift Current- 82.

- Weyburn-81.

- Watrous-80.

- Eastend- 80.