Operations & Training

Tractor-Trailers Overturn as Severe Storms Rip Through TX

May 4, 2021

Forreston and ESD No. 6 firefighters rescued at least one driver as torrential rain, hail and winds damaged vehicles and knocked down trees and power lines.

By Bill Spinks

Source Waxahachie Daily Light, Texas

At least three tractor-trailers were involved in a major traffic accident Monday as damaging thunderstorms tore through Waxahachie, TX, and other parts of the state.

Severe thunderstorms containing a suspected tornado raked across Ellis County on Monday night, resulting in damage and contributing to a major accident on Interstate 35E south of Waxahachie.

At least three tractor-trailers were overturned on I-35E near Johnson Road at about 8:50 p.m. Television footage from storm chasers showed the big rigs in the southbound lanes having pushed the center barrier into the northbound lanes, with one overturned trailer completely blocking the northbound lanes. Some cars were able to bypass the wreck by driving onto the grassy shoulder.

First responders from the Forreston Fire Department and Emergency Services District No. 6 were shown rescuing a driver from one truck using the Jaws of Life. Early reports suggested at least three drivers were seriously injured.

Several passenger vehicles were also flipped over in the area and power lines were reported down as the storm crossed the interstate highway. One house was reported damaged and trees were down in the Forreston area.

Shortly after the initial storm, a second storm moved in from the west with torrential rain, hail, and winds of about 60 mph. The storms finally moved east and out of the county at about 11 p.m.

Elsewhere in the county, reports were received of marble-sized hail in Midlothian and pea- to dime-sized hail in Waxahachie.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Ellis County at about 8:30 p.m. as a long-track supercell with rotation moved east out of Johnson County. The same cell produced a funnel cloud near Blum in Hill County that was captured by several photographers.

The NWS will survey the damage in the coming days to determine if a tornado was the cause, and if so, to determine the strength and track of the twister.

Tornadic events are not uncommon in North Texas, and Monday's storm was the third to hit Ellis County in about 2 1/2 years.

On Oct. 20, 2019, a tornado touched down in Midlothian, destroying a church near U.S. Highway 67 and causing less severe damage elsewhere. Almost exactly a year before that, an EF-0 tornado caused damage at the then-brand-new Waxahachie High School, causing broken windows, downing fences and overturning the WHS band's box truck.

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