One Dead As High Winds Topple Trucks In Utah And Nevada

One Dead as High Winds Topple Trucks in Utah and Nevada

Strong winds gusting over 70 mph knocked over trucks and caused numerous traffic accidents Tuesday in Nevada and Utah, including a 17-vehicle pileup that killed one person and injured at least 16 other people, authorities said.

Several semi-trucks were knocked over on Interstate 80, the Utah Highway Patrol said. In Tooele County, Utah, six semis and 11 passenger vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction crash when drivers plowed into the back of a semi whose driver tried to slow down after seeing the conditions ahead on I-80, the Highway Patrol told NBC station KSL of Salt Lake City.

A second semi then hit the pile, causing more collisions behind it. A man in one of the passenger vehicles was killed, and other people were taken to hospitals for treatment, the Highway Patrol said.

The highway was closed in both directions from the Nevada state line to mile post 99. In all, as many as eight semis overturned or were involved in accidents on I-80, several of them dumping their contents into the roadway, John Gleason, a spokesman for the Transportation Department, told NBC News. The interstate's eastbound lanes were reopened late Tuesday afternoon.

Rocky Mountain Power said the winds caused widespread damage to its equipment and facilities in Utah. Almost 15,000 customers remained without power at 4:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET), the utility said.

Gusts up to 40 mph snapped the top off a power pole in Churchill County, Nevada, according to NV Energy, which reported that about 425 Nevada customers were without power. The Nevada Transportation Department recorded a 70-mph gust near Baker and Great Basin National Park.

High winds forced a British Airways from London Heathrow Airport bound for Las Vegas to be diverted to Ontario International Airport in California, the airline said.

The National Weather Service said the winds were part of a strong spring system that was expected to continue until near midnight in Utah and Nevada — and simultaneously, a moderate-to-strong Santa Ana wind system was moving across Southern California. Much of the Mojave Desert — including Las Vegas — remained under wind advisories through late Tuesday night, it said.

I dodged a bullet with this one. I was about 2 hours behind the crash site. I left home yesterday and if I just left slightly earlier I would have probably been in this.

The conditions in NV were pretty extreme, constant hail and high winds. Eastern NV was the worst I've seen. They had the road shut down at Wendover. When I climbed the hill overlooking Wendover is when the 40+mph winds started hitting me.

In fact, I totally didn't expect it. I had one wind gust that really rattled my chains and got my heart pumping - it had to have been at least 50mph. Thank God I was loaded with 44,000lb of beer for if I had been empty that would have surely tipped me over without a doubt. The last few miles just to get off the interstate were done at a crawl.

I stopped at the Flying J and experienced constant rocking back and forth as I sat there parked.

I am thankful that I was feeling lazy yesterday and decided to leave a bit later than I originally intended to. This could have very well been me. Thank you God!

Daniel, after that, I'm betting you wanted to Crack open one of those beers you had in the back lol. Hopefully none of our members here were involved and best wishes to anyone who might have been hurt and to the family of the person who lost their life.

We're having those winds here at home right now, most of the night. Some gusts are so harsh,it sounds like thunder outside my window!