Trucker Meets Twister Head On

More than 100 tornados ripped their way across the Midwest last weekend, leaving a mess of destruction in their wake.  Minnesota truck driver Jerry “JD” Clark was traveling through Iowa, on Interstate 29, when the tornados went through, sweeping up his truck and tossing it around.

Clark was in the tiny town of Thurman, Iowa.  The town was virtually wiped of them map, three out of every four homes and business were destroyed.

Clark suffered several broken ribs and a punctured lungs.  he was taken to an Omaha, Nebraska hospital, where he called his wife, Donna.

Donna told DLOnline, “All he said was, he totaled his truck and him and a bunch of other trucks got hit by the storm. He said there were about 3 or 4 other trucks by the tornado and got wiped out.”

Iowa State Patrol officers have started to complete their reports on the other semis that were overturned on Interstate 29 Saturday evening.

According to the repots, The calls came in at 5:38, with officers responding at 6:03. The truck drivers were from Pennsylvania to Manitoba; Kansas to Minnesota. The report states, vehicle was southbound and had came to a stop on the interstate because the vehicle in front had stopped. Severe storm was coming through and the extreme wind knocked several semis on their sides… There was severe winds and heavy rain in the area. Severe winds caused unit 1 to overturn. Unit 1 came to rest on the driver’s side.

The National Weather Service said, 15 tornados touched down in Nebraska and Iowa.

Six people from Oklahoma died in the tornados.