A fierce storm swept through West Texas on Tuesday, toppling an entire train’s worth cargo containers. While hail is always ready to cause damage, high winds pose an even stronger threat. The storms derailed one Pacific Alliance freight train in Trent, Texas, a small town about 24 miles west of Abilene. Rail told Fox Weather that no one was injured in the incident. This is not surprising when you consider that most of the train crew are Only two people.
National Weather Service It is estimated that wind speeds reached 80 miles per hour. Video of the aftermath was shared with weather channel shows the scale of the destruction. Up to 25 train cars were pushed off the tracks, many containers were twisted or lying on the ground. With containers stacked on top of the car, it seemed that strong winds had swept the containers like a sail and caused the train to derail.
Wind-driven derailments occasionally occur across the Great Plains. Last July, 80 mph winds derailed it a BNSF train in Oklahoma. The incident caused 29 cars to derail Related press. It should be noted that no hazardous materials were spilled during either derailment.
