Tornado lifts van off I-65 in Maury County
MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – When an EF3 tornado struck Maury County, it ripped right across I-65, causing panic among drivers and damage to vehicles.
Multiple witnesses said the storm picked up a work van from I-65 and tossed it into the grass.
The incident happened Wednesday, May 8 on I-65 South near the Bear Creek exit.
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Because there were so many calls in the county simultaneously, Spring Hill officers responded to a mutual aid call for help and were first on scene.
When officers arrived, you can hear them say on body cam, “I think they have been blown off the road by a tornado.”
According to multiple drivers, the tornado came right across the interstate.
One officer asked multiple good Samaritans who were on the side of the road if there was anyone in the van which was on its side.
The drivers said they checked inside the van and around it, but did not find anyone.
One of the drivers who stopped said he saw the van being lifted off the interstate and then rolling into the grass. He said he was parked under an overpass for shelter when it happened.
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“The tornado was right in front of us, and I seen the wind blowing and I seen something come over to the side, and I am sure it had to be [the van],” one of the drivers said to an officer.
News 2 has obtained 911 calls of the incident, including one from a truck driver who said she was behind the van when it lifted into the sky.
“Whenever the tornado hit like in front of us, it went up in the air and flipped him over, So I don’t know if they are okay. I completely saw the tornado take him up or however it flipped everything over,” the driver told dispatchers.
“They did have someone actually watch him get blown off the road, so I think he has been sucked out of it,” an officer told arriving troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
As the mystery intensified, officers started getting more calls for help out of Maury County.
“They just called requesting mutual aid for further vehicles that are overturned in the middle of the roadway and they’ve been requested to go to Lasea Road. They’ve got a structure, people are trapped in houses,” an officer said.
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“It’s the fog of war, everything is going on right at the same time. You had multiple agencies responding to multiple locations that were impacted by the tornado. We are just trying to piece together this small incident among the bigger situation,” Lt. Mike Foster told News 2.
Spring Hill officials said while working the van crash, someone at the emergency room at Maury Regional called to say that the driver arrived there by private vehicle.
The driver’s condition is unknown.
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