Woman caught along interstate as storm passes
MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Drivers on I-65 in Maury County were caught in the fury of a tornado as the storm barreled across the interstate Wednesday.
A Spring Hill woman also had a close call with the tornado and thanks her friend who was sending her alerts while watching News 2.
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Imagine what it’s like to be driving on the road and nearly come face to face with a tornado. That was the reality for Gini and Mike David who were on their way home Wednesday afternoon in Spring Hill as a tornado touched down in Maury County.
“We got in the car and we were headed north on 31, just coming into the subdivision,” said Gini, a Spring Hill resident. “He abruptly turned around because we could see this huge black mass and it looked like it was hovering over Columbia, but we didn’t know what it was doing.”
The situation worsened when the couple’s radar wasn’t working as they looked for the safest place to drive to.
“We were almost going parallel with the storm; it was probably a half a mile south of us,” said Gini.
Dash camera captures moment tornado crossed I-65 in Maury County
Unsure of what direction to drive in, they turned to text messages from their friend who was watching the news.
“My friend Amy Lewis was watching channel 2 apparently, and she texted me, ‘Tornado Warning in Columbia,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ She started sending me pictures and we were driving and we were frightened,” Gini told News 2.
Thankfully they avoided the tornado, but it was a close call. So, what should you do if you’re stuck in your car in a similar situation during a storm?
National Weather Service (NWS) officials told News 2 the decisions you need to make are not easy and depend on the situation, but there are some guidelines you can follow.
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“In general, it is not recommended to stop under the overpasses or bridges. This is a problem for a couple of reasons, when you stop under a bridge it can create a traffic hazard, and that adds a whole other issue to a safety problem. Also, if a tornado directly impacts a bridge, the winds can actually funnel through that area and actually enhance the damage and potential danger from that tornado,” said Sam Herron, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Nashville.
NWS officials told News 2 the best thing to do is to get out of your car and find shelter during a tornado, but if you can’t, take other precautions.
“If that’s not available, a ditch is a good choice. Now of course you want to be watching out for flooding and you want to be watching out for any debris that may be flying through the air,” said Herron.
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Heeding these tips could make all the difference. For Gini, she said she’s grateful for severe weather alerts that just may have saved her family’s life.
“But that my friend was watching and paying attention and said, ‘Go north,'” Gini said. “I just think there’s so many blessings; there was a lot of things working in our favor.”
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