Wind blows one truck over and another off highway south of Cody

Posted 12/22/16

Lt. Phil Farman of the Wyoming Highway Patrol said the truck — a two-axle straight truck transporting U.S. mail from Powell to Casper — was blown over by strong winds clocked as high as 70 mph.

The truck was laying on its left (driver’s) …

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Wind blows one truck over and another off highway south of Cody

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Continued high winds and blowing snow made some highways in Park County treacherous on Monday and Tuesday.

Around 4:45 p.m. Monday, a truck reportedly overturned about 4 miles south of Cody on Wyo. Highway 120.

Lt. Phil Farman of the Wyoming Highway Patrol said the truck — a two-axle straight truck transporting U.S. mail from Powell to Casper — was blown over by strong winds clocked as high as 70 mph.

The truck was laying on its left (driver’s) side, blocking the entire north-bound lane and part of the southbound lane of the highway, Farman said.

When Cody firefighters and an ambulance crew from West Park Hospital arrived, the wind made it impossible for them to open the passenger-side door to rescue the driver, John Gerrells, 66, of Thermopolis. Firemen had to remove the truck’s windshield to allow EMTs to reach Gerrells, and he was transported to West Park Hospital. Gerrells was later transferred to Billings Clinic Hospital, according to Ashley Trudo, marketing and public relations manager at West Park. Trudo said Gerrells’ condition was unknown.

Farman said the truck was moved off the road to open the highway.

Powell Postmaster Wendy Trautman said the overturned mail truck was hauled back to Cody later, where the mail was loaded into another truck and driven to Casper on Tuesday.

Although it was a day late, “all the mail was recovered, and it wasn’t broken open and there was no loss,” Trautman said.

David Rupert, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service in Denver, said High Country Logistics contracts to haul the mail on that route.

“Our thoughts (for Gerrells) are for a speedy recovery from his injuries,” Rupert said.

He said the truck blow-over serves as a reminder “just to give thanks to those people.”

“Every dot on the map, we’ve got people traveling there every single night and every single morning,” he said. “Across Wyoming roads, there’s a lot of hazards and a lot of challenges, between the wind and the snow and the ice, so those people really are unsung heroes.”

Farman said another truck — this one a Wal-Mart tractor-trailer loaded with only two pallets — was blown off Wyo. Highway 120 about the same time as the mail truck blew over, and just a quarter of a mile away. However, the Wal-Mart truck did not overturn, he said.

A patrol trooper gave the truck driver a ride back to a hotel in Cody. The driver returned to the truck later after the wind had died down and was able to continue his route, Farman said.

In addition, several vehicles slid off the Badger Basin Highway (Wyo. Highway 294) on Monday evening due to slick roads and wind, Farman said.

Winds also were strong in other areas across the state on Monday and Tuesday as well, prompting the Wyoming Department of Transportation to issue advisories warning drivers of lightweight or high-profile vehicles to avoid driving on affected highways.

Despite that warning, several trucks blew over on highways and interstates in Wyoming as drivers failed to heed the warnings. 

Farman said there are no electronic signs in this area to carry similar warnings in Park County, so those advisories did not apply to highways in the Big Horn Basin.

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