Severe thunderstorms swept across West Texas on Tuesday, toppling over a whole train’s worth of cargo containers. While hail is always ready to cause damage, the high winds were an even more potent threat. The storms derailed a Union Pacific freight train in Trent, Texas, a small town about 24 miles west of Abilene. The railroad told Fox Weather that no one was injured in the incident. This isn’t surprising when you consider that most train crew are just two people.
The National Weather Service estimated that wind speeds reached up to 80 miles per hour. The video of the aftermath shared with the Weather Channel shows the scale of the destruction. Up to 25 train cars were pushed off the tracks, and several containers were twisted or on the ground. With containers double-stacked on cars, it seems like the high winds caught the containers like a sail and derailed the train.
Wind-provoked derailments are an occasional occurrence across the Great Plains. In July last year, 80-mph winds derailed a BNSF train in Oklahoma. The incident derailed 29 cars, according to the Associated Press. It should be noted that no hazardous materials were spilled in both derailments.