Despite the devastation Tuesday's storm brought with it, it has also brought families and people closer together.
 
A Lieutenant with the Sylvan Lake Volunteer Fire Department, Ben James found himself stuck in the storm on rollerblades, with two daughters 7 and 3 on bicycles and a 1 year old in a jogging stroller.
 
He says despite checking the weather radar and keeping an eye to the sky, he had to act quickly, getting his kids to take cover in the ditch and holding on to the stroller for dear life as what he describes as a plow of wind hit them at the intersection of Marina Bay and Lakeshore Drive.

“I don’t know what would have happened, because it was in the air, like it was rising up and I know that if I would have let go of it, it would have gone for a ride, and I couldn’t imagine. Even with my rollerblades on, it blew me, because I couldn’t get stopped, into the ditch and then once I hit the ditch, I just sat down and then rolled the stroller down too. But if I would have let go of that stroller, it would have went for a wild, wild ride”.

An SUV pulled over and made room for him and his family and took them to safety and James says he's so grateful for that gesture, and thanks to community connections and social media, he's been able to identify the family who came to their aid.

“She wrote to me and said, thanks for the kind words Ben and Samantha, but truly we did just what any of our family and friends would do, glad your family is safe and you guys sure have cute little girls. I’m super grateful, again, you know you are kind of in the moment and you don’t really know what’s going on and I don’t know how else it would have played out if they wouldn’t have pulled up, I really don’t”.

James credits growing up on the farm and his fire training for his ability to stay calm during the ordeal, and says he intends on taking his girls to meet their local heroes again and thank them.

After getting his family to safety, James then headed to the Sylvan Fire Hall to assist with around 17 calls for service between 7pm and 12:30am as a result of the storm.