Toy semi-trucks are part of any kid’s car collection. They also tend to take a beating, being the strong, resilient types they are. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Recent extreme weather with hurricane-force gusts knocked down big rigs left and right across the Southern Plains.
A powerful dust storm coupled with extreme winds is responsible for at least three deaths and several injuries across Texas and Oklahoma, reports AccuWeather. Gusts upwards of 100 mph caused a massive pileup on Interstate 27 in Canyon, Texas, which is located in the Texas panhandle. Footage provided by storm chaser Blake Brown shows low visibility conditions as well as 18-wheelers tipping over like, well, toys.
“There it goes. There goes another one,” said Brown in the video as one after another, tractor-trailers succumbed to the strong winds and fell over onto their sides.
One massive pileup involved some 38 vehicles. Local authorities didn’t realize the extent of the crash until the storm moved on. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Sgt. Cindy Barkley of the Texas Department of Public Safety. “We couldn’t tell that they were all together until the dust kind of settled.”
“This is terrible out here,” said trucker Charles Daniel to the Associated Press. “A lot of sand and dirt in the air. I’m not pushing it over 55 mph. I’m scared it will blow over if I do.” Daniel was traveling along Interstate 40 in western Oklahoma with a 48-foot trailer.
“What’s unique about this one is its large size and intensity,” said Bill Bunting to the AP. Bunting is based at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. “And so what that is doing is producing really substantial impacts over a very large area.”
The extreme weather conditions will affect a vast area that is home to more than 100 million people, said the AP. High winds were forecast from as far north as the U.S.-Canadian border to the Southern Plains region, which includes Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Beyond the near-zero driving visibility, northern areas could see blizzard conditions while the south will experience an increased risk of wildfires.
In Oklahoma, more than 130 fires were reported yesterday, and many communities were under evacuation orders. The winds led to violent tornadoes lashing through Missouri, killing at least 10 people. Today, hundreds of thousands across the Midwest and the South remain without power, according to poweroutage.us.
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