Tornado Flips Truck and Driver Drives Away

[Randy Jennings]

By now many of you have probably seen the video Brian Emfinger got of a pickup truck being flipped over and spun around in the EF-2 (prelim rating) Elgin TX tornado west of Austin TX on Monday 3/21/22. The vehicle was then flipped back on it's wheels and the driver drives off.

Here is the Brian's original post: Twitter

Here is a news story that includes as Good Morning America interview with the driver: 16-year-old driver tossed in Elgin tornado lucky to be alive | kvue.com

 

[Mike Smith]

It is amazing that he survived while the young man was killed in Arabi, Louisiana in his pickup truck.

 

[Todd Lemery]

They found the young man and asked him about it. Here’s the link

https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/ef2-elgin-texas-tornado-flips-truck-captured-in-storm-chaser-video/1160776

 

[Warren Faidley]

Weird thing was that the roof air bags did not seem to deploy.

 

[Jeff Wright]

I think the accelerometers require a major jolt lest bad potholes set them off-assuming they weren't disabled. The tornado kept the truck moving-and maybe that fooled the chip? Now, it was the inflow jet that righted it, correct? The tornado itself passed by quickly...I don't think there was a trailing vortex...

 

[Warren Faidley]

I was thinking that maybe the truck was cushioned by a layers of air flow, kind of like a wing. Crazy idea, fit for wind modeling, but it looked somewhat undamaged for a rolled truck. Too bad he did not have a front mounted camera! Glad he was OK.

 

[Bobby Little]

Im glad it was a Chevy. "Like A Rock" . Additionally, i am a little surprised that we have not gotten more reports/ footage in our target area from chasers here at Stormtrack?

 

[Warren Faidley]

The truck rolling kind of reminds me of the old commercial here:

 

[Mark Egan]

Story with driver, all is ok: 16-year-old driver tossed in Elgin tornado lucky to be alive - a Chevy dealership in Ft. Worth is giving him a new truck

I’m using this story as an opportunity for a learning experience: I’ve been telling friends and family (who share the story with me) that it’s important to have a higher level of situational awareness when driving on a severe weather day, especially one with a high threat for tornadoes. Much like driving through a neighborhood with children playing in the front yards, it’s best to have one’s head on a swivel on a day with a tornado threat.

This is certainly not a criticism of the kid’s driving: but, being 16, I’ll have to think that he may have just been looking at the road ahead (which may have been fine in better weather)

There may have been a chance for the driver to notice the tornado a few seconds early and slow down to let it pass in front of his truck. Most importantly, I’m glad he’s fine.

I work for a company that is starting a driving school here in Texas (we do other things as well) and I’ve asked the managers if we would consider offering a lesson- or at least creating a brochure and/or website link- about driving in severe weather.

 

[Jeff Wright]

I think he slowed down...maybe not much of a condensation funnel. The tornado had to do all the work. He didn't get fountained up. The tornado being weak and translating across the road quickly. Now a decade or so back-there was chopper footage of a narrow, almost invisible vortex that sent a vehicle at highway speed sailing-this I think was even before the event where trailers made like box kites. Those were initially stationary-and thus allowed the wind a grip as here. Had this young man been speeding-he would simply have been thrown into a ditch-at speed...the momentum carrying him through the vortex before it could use him as a spirograph! At speed, he may have went airborne. As it was, he had a 'gentler' time of it. In racing...it seems the more violent looking a crash is-the less fatal.

 

[Jack R. Jester]

Man, I remember flipping my truck when I was 16.


I saw pictures of his truck after it got flipped, and I would fix it since there probably isn't any structural damage to the cab.

It just needs a bedside, two doors and some work on the rear of the cab (I used to do collision repair for a living).

 

[Matt Zumbrunn]

Man, I remember flipping my truck when I was 16.
View attachment 22568
View attachment 22569
I saw pictures of his truck after it got flipped, and I would fix it since there probably isn't any structural damage to the cab.
View attachment 22570
It just needs a bedside, two doors and some work on the rear of the cab (I used to do collision repair for a living).

Depending on if he had full coverage...I just priced out new bed sides to replace the ones that were rusting away on my 2010 Silverado in February $5500. I bet there is more damage there than the truck is worth depending on how much he could do himself.

 

[Jeff Wright]

Chevrolet just gave the kid a free new truck.
Where’s mine? I’m a pauper!

 

[Daniel Bouchard]

Chevrolet just gave the kid a free new truck.
Where’s mine? I’m a pauper!

I think I know what the new Silverado advertisement is going to be.

 

[J Holder]

While I'm glad the family's going to be made whole on the loss of the truck, I'm really afraid this is going to start some sort of stupid Tiktok "drive your ride through a tornado challenge" nonsense.