TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- Severe weather can wreak havoc on a truck driver's safety and schedule.
However, many may not realize that one of the deadliest elements isn't rain or snow, it's wind.
"If you've ever driven a car or minivan and you feel that wind pushing you, multiply that by ten. That's what you've gotta look at," truck driver John Craft said. "Winds carry a truck three lanes or better over. It will roll you over. Doesn't matter how heavy you are. The wind's strong enough, it will catch the undercarriage and will roll you over."
The driver of a 18-wheeler had a terrifying experience after wind gusts lifted his trailer and cab, nearly carrying it completely off the Highway 45 overpass and onto Barnes Crossing Road Monday afternoon. Shannon resident Joe Sisk survived without injury.
Miles away, another driver overturned his big rig near Verona on Highway 45, apparently caused by the severe weather conditions. Authorities said the driver of that tractor trailer did not sustain any major injuries.
"It's hard to see, and if you don't pay attention, you can cause an accident yourself," truck driver Mike Davis said.
Motorists drive into the wind every day. It's the resistance caused by our speed of travel.
When a 75 mile-per-hour wind hits you from the side, though, there's only so much you can do.
"If it takes it with you, there you go. There's nothing you can do, just hope for the best. Hope it stays up. If it doesn't, it's going to lay it over and that's just the way it is," Davis said.
"I've almost gone off a 12-foot embankment because of the wind, but I slowed down, took my time, and found a place to park. Thank God you're alive," Craft said.
Three of the four accidents reported in north Mississippi and northwest Alabama Monday were on north-south highways.
Chief Meteorologist Matt Laubhan said that's because the storm system affected those highways more because of the direction of Monday afternoon's wind gusts.
