Mile wide tornado barrels through rural Canadian town, wiping out homes

A mile (1.6 km) wide tornado has devastated a rural Canadian town on Canada Day, with celebration events across the country canceled amid further storm warnings., Report informs via the Daily Mail.

Images captured and shared on social media show a huge tornado barreling through homes in the rural town of Didsbury, Alberta.

Nearby towns including Carstairs where also impacted by the large scale storm which is said to have been moving at 25 miles per hour (40.23 km per hour).

Environment and Climate Change Canada had issued alerts for the storm they said was producing a tornado, damaging winds, large hail and intense rainfall.

In a warning, they said: 'Environment Canada meteorologists are tracking a severe thunderstorm that is producing a tornado.

'Damaging winds, large hail and locally intense rainfall are also possible. This tornado is located near Didsbury and is moving southeast at 40 km/h. This is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation.

Pictures and video taken of Didsbury following the storm shows numerous homes devastated by the storm.

A large area of what is thought to have been woodland has been completely flattened, with broken twisted trees splattered across the area.

In total, 14 houses were affected by the tornado with five being completely destroyed.

One woman was trapped in her basement as her home was destroyed around her, but rescue crews managed to pull her from the rubble.