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Wind topples trees, overturns semis in northern Utah

Posted at 4:52 PM, Apr 22, 2014
and last updated 2014-04-23 00:06:56-04

ROY -- Drivers were no match for Mother Nature today along Interstate 15 in Tremonton on Tuesday.

“I can't think of when I've had two semis blow over at the same time,” said Trooper James Martin of the Utah Highway Patrol.

Martin was cleaning up road cones that had been blown into the middle of the interstate when he received a call for two accidents about a mile away.

“We've got two semi-trucks that have blown over here,” Martin said. “Probably a couple hundred yards apart from each other.”

According to Martin, the first truck nearly slid over the side of the road and down into an embankment. The driver sustained critical injuries.

“It went right on the edge,” Martin said. “It was actually teetering on the edge.”

As UHP worked to clean up the area, a stretch of road near the I-15, Interstate 84 interchange was closed down for several hours, blocking access to drivers, like Chad Lapoti.

“Oh, it was bad. It was like 65 miles per hour,” Lapoti said.

He was headed home early from road work because of the fast winds, which then seemed to slow his commute back.

“Now, we are trapped over here,” Lapoti said. “It’s just too windy.”

As the night wore on, crews were out in full force throughout northern Utah to restore power. Approximately 1,300 Rocky Mountain Power customers lost power in Ogden, Marriott-Slater and West Haven.