July 20 is a date that sticks in the minds of many people at Long Plain First Nation.

It was one year ago today, on July 20, 2016, when an EF-1 tornado touched down around 6:55 p.m., ripping through the community for an estimated 15 minutes and causing damage to many structures. It's a night that Long Plain Chief Dennis Meeches will never forget.

"It was a very scary night. We had a lot of people evacuated that night right up to the storm, almost 800 people," recalls Meeches. "Work began immediately to make sure everybody was safe. We had about 164 homes that were heavily damaged. It was quite the storm."

As a result of the widespread damage and displaced people, Long Plain declared a state of emergency the day after the storm. Evacuees were sent to hotels across the province. Relief work was coordinated at the community by Red Cross and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). One year after the devastating twister, Meeches says everything is pretty much back to normal at Long Plain. All but two of the hundreds that were evacuated have returned home.

But, Meeches says there's more work that needs to be done tied to the EF-1 tornado that struck Long Plain in 2016.

"We're still working with INAC and Red Cross on reconciliations of work that was done. I'm hoping that will be resolved over the next three to six months," he explains. "Also, for insurance claims, the window for that is two years from the date of the storm. For example, we had a request from a family as recently as one week ago that wanted their home looked at because they believe it has tornado damage from last year."

"Also, there's still a lot of work to be done in terms of preparations. We're working towards acquiring an emergency management system for Long Plain."

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"Tornado Strikes Portage Area"