[Renegade Viper]

I was on AZ Hwy 72 N and had just gotten off I-10 W about 1600 or so on 1-21. It was a deadhead run to Lake Havasu City.... it had been pretty windy and at times the rain was intense... but I turned off I-10 and the wind etc was to my back... got 14 mile out of Parker, AZ doing about 55 mph and it started... it was like, right now... sideways rain... I felt a sway in my trlr and by then I was on my side sliding down the highway.... damn lucky there was no one coming down the other lane... we all would have had a memorial service...

As I hung from my seatbelt looking and feeling kind of that WOW, numb feeling... I said out loud THIS IS NOT GOOD! I reached the key and turned off the motor to hopfully avert any fire... the weird things you think of! And then I realized I had to get out of the seat... after a couple of tries the seat belt realeased and I was hands down on the passenger door with the shifter in my gut... stood up and grabbed the qualcom... and sent the following. I WAS JUST BLOWN OVER BY A TORNADO AND CANNOT GET OUT OF THE TRUCK... SEND HELP!!!

At that time a couple in a small white pickup stopped just before my windshield and got out... I heard the woman say...OH MY GOD... IS HE DEAD? I said hey I'm right here and I can't get out! A very nice man said get out here and he pointed to a sun window at the top of the cab, which was now facing the ground as the truck is on its side and had popped out leaving a nice, what appeared to be a cubby hole exit. I'm 6 feet six and 340 lbs... I looked at him and said I CAN'T GET OUT THERE! He calmed me and said... sir, yes you can... just put your foot here and he explicitly told me how to do it.... well, a bit shaken I did it . But before I left I frantically started looking for my cell phone. I can't come out til I find my cell phone... Sir... Sir... and the man held up my cell phone that he picked up from outside the cab... sometimes ya just go nuts for awhile.

Well, I got outta there quick, fast and in a hurry, after what seemed to be an eternity of standing straight up in a kw 600 that's on its side and seeing all my stuff in a lump and spread from hell to breakfast.... my home had just been destroyed. AND NO CELL SERVICE! PLUS THE PHONE WAS DAMAGED!

Well, a few bumps and a big bruse on my butt from the seatbelt clasp.... don't ask me how that happened cause I don't know... a few shakes and rattles in this 56 year old body and I am ok... actually more than ok... it could have been bad but I live to drive another day... I love driving... I love seeing the sun come up in the morning and watching it set at night. It's a different life and I want to keep on... but will be pretty goosie for awhile... but this too shall pass. Thanks to the Parker City Police and Sergent Floring for being helpful and supportive. And thanks to everyone who stopped to see if they could help... and thanks to the man and woman who stopped to teach me how to get out of my truck when I was having a brain fart. God sends Angels to help when needed!

When something like this happens ya take it pretty personal. Wondering if there was anything that could have been done to prevent it. I asked the Officer straight away if there would be any citation for this and he said NO... you could not have anticipated this nor could you have prevented it. And believe me if I felt you should get cited ... I would cite you without a second thought. It put my mind at ease for awhile.

A bits stiff and still dealing with the WOW factor I sit in a Best Western Motel and write this... and the biggest question I have is WHY ME....? Not as in oh poor me.... but, more in the way of why was I not killed or hurt in this mess? And all I can say about that is THANKS LORD... I REALLY DO APPRECIATE THE CONSIDERATION... AND THE PROTECTION...
GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU SAFE!

[AC120]

Wow! Bummer about the rig, but you're okay, and that's what's important. There's nothing you could have done except ride it out. And you got your cell phone back!

[Orangetxguy]

Originally Posted by Renegade Viper

I was on AZ Hwy 72 N and had just gotten off I-10 W about 1600 or so on 1-21. It was a deadhead run to Lake Havasu City.... it had been pretty windy and at times the rain was intense... but I turned off I-10 and the wind etc was to my back... got 14 mile out of Parker, AZ doing about 55 mph and it started... it was like, right now... sideways rain... I felt a sway in my trlr and by then I was on my side sliding down the highway.... damn lucky there was no one coming down the other lane... we all would have had a memorial service...

As I hung from my seatbelt looking and feeling kind of that WOW, numb feeling... I said out loud THIS IS NOT GOOD! I reached the key and turned off the motor to hopfully avert any fire... the weird things you think of! And then I realized I had to get out of the seat... after a couple of tries the seat belt realeased and I was hands down on the passenger door with the shifter in my gut... stood up and grabbed the qualcom... and sent the following. I WAS JUST BLOWN OVER BY A TORNADO AND CANNOT GET OUT OF THE TRUCK... SEND HELP!!!

At that time a couple in a small white pickup stopped just before my windshield and got out... I heard the woman say...OH MY GOD... IS HE DEAD? I said hey I'm right here and I can't get out! A very nice man said get out here and he pointed to a sun window at the top of the cab, which was now facing the ground as the truck is on its side and had popped out leaving a nice, what appeared to be a cubby hole exit. I'm 6 feet six and 340 lbs... I looked at him and said I CAN'T GET OUT THERE! He calmed me and said... sir, yes you can... just put your foot here and he explicitly told me how to do it.... well, a bit shaken I did it . But before I left I frantically started looking for my cell phone. I can't come out til I find my cell phone... Sir... Sir... and the man held up my cell phone that he picked up from outside the cab... sometimes ya just go nuts for awhile.

Well, I got outta there quick, fast and in a hurry, after what seemed to be an eternity of standing straight up in a kw 600 that's on its side and seeing all my stuff in a lump and spread from hell to breakfast.... my home had just been destroyed. AND NO CELL SERVICE! PLUS THE PHONE WAS DAMAGED!

Well, a few bumps and a big bruse on my butt from the seatbelt clasp.... don't ask me how that happened cause I don't know... a few shakes and rattles in this 56 year old body and I am ok... actually more than ok... it could have been bad but I live to drive another day... I love driving... I love seeing the sun come up in the morning and watching it set at night. It's a different life and I want to keep on... but will be pretty goosie for awhile... but this too shall pass. Thanks to the Parker City Police and Sergent Floring for being helpful and supportive. And thanks to everyone who stopped to see if they could help... and thanks to the man and woman who stopped to teach me how to get out of my truck when I was having a brain fart. God sends Angels to help when needed!

When something like this happens ya take it pretty personal. Wondering if there was anything that could have been done to prevent it. I asked the Officer straight away if there would be any citation for this and he said NO... you could not have anticipated this nor could you have prevented it. And believe me if I felt you should get cited ... I would cite you without a second thought. It put my mind at ease for awhile.

A bits stiff and still dealing with the WOW factor I sit in a Best Western Motel and write this... and the biggest question I have is WHY ME....? Not as in oh poor me.... but, more in the way of why was I not killed or hurt in this mess? And all I can say about that is THANKS LORD... I REALLY DO APPRECIATE THE CONSIDERATION... AND THE PROTECTION...
GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU SAFE!

Given the fact that you were wearing your seat-belt, like the "Law" is wanting you to do, you really weren't at all that great a risk.

About the only thing that would have prevented this, would have been if you had had a load of bricks, flat steel, or steel beams on the deck of your skateboard. Something heavy and low-profile. Pipe or lumber may not have helped.

Or you had been parked.

Isn't it something how an empty skateboard can be flipped just as easily by wind, as an empty dry van can? That's why I really like tanks. They are round, and while they may rock with wind gusts, they are almost impossible for wind to turn over...aerodynamically speaking.

You don't say what company you are with. That right there (your employer) will have a great deal to do with how the "after-math" is dealt with. An "Anal Retentive" insurance company or Safety Officer may pound you with a preventable, simply because you weren't parked.

And...I do believe you gave your expression of gratitude to the proper authority.

Good for you driver. :thumbsup:


( I bet an "anal" company doesn't buy the micro-burst theory as a cause of the accident !)

[Mr. Ford95]

Sooooo, was it a microburst like the headline says or was it a tornado?

[Malaki86]

Glad to hear you made it out ok. I couldn't imagine it.

[VitoCorleone99]

Originally Posted by Orangetxguy

...
( I bet an "anal" company doesn't buy the micro-burst theory as a cause of the accident !)

I'm pretty sure my company wouldn't care either way, as far as the meteorological aspect goes. You lay one over, you find a new job, as far as I understand the policy. I imagine they fall back on the old "If it's unsafe, then you should be parked" line of reasoning or whatever.

Glad to hear that you were okay, Renegade Viper. I think I would have had to ask the good Samaritans to wait a few minutes while I changed my shorts.

[Renegade Viper]

I didn't see a funnel but I was a bit busy at the time...

[b00m]

Wow!Glad you made it out and there were no fatalities or serious injuries.I don't wish this on nobody!Best of luck and God bless you man!

[jonp]

Holy Moly...Glad your alright. We had a couple of parked trucks get blown over in Nevada by micro-bursts. Parked on the side of 97 in a pull-out sleeping and boing!! No one hurt thankfully.

[gcal]

scary for sure. glad you ok and good thing you had your belt on. could of been a lot worse...