Long Plain First Nations families forced from homes after Preliminary EF1 tornado

Tornado damage near Portage la Prairie Sarah Plowman takes a look at the aftermath of a tornado that touched down in southwestern Manitoba.

Environment  Canada confirmed a preliminary EF1 tornado touched down near Long Plain First Nations Wednesday night.

At least 900 people from the First Nations community have sought shelter at hotels in Portage La Prairie, Brandon and Winnipeg.

"It's actually far more wide spread than I thought it would be," said Patrick McCarthy, an Environment Canada meteorologist assessing the tornado damage.

McCarthy believes the tornado touched down for 10-15 minutes, moving at a pace of about 30-50 km/h. At the height of the storm, the winds surrounding the tornado reached 150 km/h.

Manitoba Hydro was on scene Thursday replacing at least 12 downed powerlines, but the power and hydro was still out Thursday night.

Roofs were ripped off houses, vehicles were tipped over and one house was removed from its foundation. Power also went out, as power lines were knocked down in the area.

Long Plain First Nation said there are no reported injuries.

Locals there created a makeshift emergency centre to record the names of families who lost their homes. Those people are being sent to hotels in Portage La Prairie.

Environment Canada said they still have to analyze the data that was collected at the site to finalize the rating.

It said at one point, 36 mm of rain was falling per hour near long plain. An airport in Portage la Prairie recorded wind gusts of 92km/h.

Environment Canada also confirmed two earlier tornadoes that touched down in southern Manitoba.

The first happened near Hartney, Manitoba Wednesday evening.

They said it happened around 5:20 p.m. CTV News also received video from viewers of funnel clouds in the area.

Environment Canada also confirmed another tornado touched down in the Souris and Reston area, based on Twitter video.

It said it received several other reports of unconfirmed funnel clouds in southwestern Manitoba and near the city of Brandon.

No tornadoes have been reported in Winnipeg.

Environment Canada said storm damage in the city was caused by straight line winds.

It said The Winnipeg International Airport reported winds gusts of up to 98 km/h.

On Thursday, Manitoba Hydro has opened an Emergency Operations Centre in Selkirk to coordinate storm response.

Hydro said there is widespread in St. Andrews, individual damage in backyards. It estimates power will be restored around 4:30 p.m.