High winds blow semis off interstate

Four semi-trailers and several cars were blown off Interstate 135 Tuesday evening and several cars had windows blown out.

The Associated Press

7/23/2008

WICHITA, Kan. — Winds strong enough to knock semi-trailers off the road blew through Sedgwick County, Kan.

Four semi-trailers and several cars were blown off Interstate 135 Tuesday evening and several cars had windows blown out. Three people suffered minor injuries.

Trucker Charles England, of Spokane, Wash., said the wind push his truck off the interstate east of Valley Center. He said so much pea-sized hail was falling that there were white-out conditions along the road.

The winds were spawned by a storm system that also hit scattered areas of north-central and east-central Kansas with large hail and gusts powerful enough to snap small trees.

Also on Tuesday, thunderstorms that raked Arkansas during the afternoon dumped hail as big as golf balls and blew down trees with straight-line gusts up to 60 mph, the National Weather Service said.

A chain-reaction pileup during a downpour on Interstate 40 in east Arkansas included six big rigs and sent several people to the hospital. It closed down the highway's westbound lanes for several hours, state police said.

Except for that accident, in which two tractor-trailers caught on fire, little damage was reported other than downed power lines.