Sunday, July 5, 2009

Train Vs. Tornado

I discovered this video from another weather blog. It's incredible. A tornado struck Boone and McHenry counties in Illinois back in January 2008. As a freight rain barreled through the area, the tornado struck the side of the train. I didn't realize there were video cameras on freight trains, but I guess there are. Anyway, you can click here for more details and photos of the storm from the NWS in Chicago. I've pasted in the part about the train below.
From the NWS in Chicago...
THE TORNADO THEN MOVED ACROSS THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD WHERE IT BLEW 12 RAILROAD FREIGHT CARS OFF THE TRACK. THE TRAIN WAS MOVING AT THE TIME THE TORNADO HIT IT...SO AS THE MAIN ENGINE STOPPED...THE REMAINING CARS ON THE TRACK CONTINUED ALONG IT AND SLAMMED INTO THE FRONT PART OF THE TRAIN. THIS CAUSED A FEW MORE CARS TO DERAIL...INCLUDING ONE CONTAINING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS THAT CAUSED THE EVACUATION OF THE TOWN OF LAWRENCE. THE DAMAGE IN LAWRENCE WAS RATED AS EF2 WITH WINDS UP TO 110 MPH.

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