Steinbach trucker survives Oklahoma tornado

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/05/2024 (354 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was getting stormy and night was closing in as James Friesen parked his red Volvo semi-trailer in the parking lot of a Valero truck stop to wait out a storm last Saturday. But this was no ordinary storm. Reports were that three twisters were in the Marietta, Oklahoma, area.

“It seemed like no matter where I stopped I’d be in a danger zone. I didn’t have a lot of options,” said the Steinbach trucker.

After parking at the truck stop, about an hour-and-a-half later, as he was in his bunk everything around Friesen went pitch black. It was 11:05 p.m. Two minutes later the tornado was behind Friesen’s truck and making a destructive path as it swayed through the truck stop. In what took probably 20 to 30 seconds but felt like half-an-hour, the tornado destroyed everything it touched.

Then it was gone.

“I’m very thankful. I have people praying for my safety, but I was one of two trucks in the entire row that left without having to do repairs to leave. There’s trucks on top of each other and it was unreal. I don’t know if you’ve seen much, but there were air conditioners (the size of small cars) from (the Dollar Tree) warehouse about half a mile away that were in the parking lot of the truck stop. It was unreal.”

The devastation in the parking lot was extensive. Trucks had their trailers twisted with the contents sucked out and strewn across the highway and the neighbouring fields. One truck was lifted 20 feet into the air and came crashing down onto a truck that was flipped on its side. Trucks had their windows blown out. Trees impaled trailers and lamp posts had fallen and pushed towards semis.

Although the tornado passed, the storm didn’t. For the next seven hours thunder and lightning and high winds whipped through the tiny truck stop. Could another tornado hit again? Friesen wondered as he hunkered down in his bunk.

When morning came, the full extent of the tornado’s wrath was seen. Aside from the devastation at the truck stop, the local hospital was also seriously damaged, but patients were taken to safety before the tornado hit. Across the street, a Dollar General the size of Canadian Tire had been completely obliterated. Media reports at the time stated there were more than 20 tornados in Oklahoma that Saturday. The tornado that ripped through Marietta was Oklahoma’s first EF-4 tornado since 2016. A EF-4 is classified as having winds from 166 to 200 miles per hour, leaving homes removed from their foundations and completely destroyed. At the very top is an EF-5. With wind speeds of over 200 miles per hour, this tornado can destroy entire neighborhoods.

Most of the drivers received scratches and bruises, but one driver who was parked 150 feet behind Friesen died of his injuries.

Damage to Friesen’s truck and trailer was minimal. Aside from a patch on the roof of his trailer and the replacement of his windshield, the Steinbach-native was able to start his engine and finish his delivery of produce to Loredo, Texas.

“I wish I could give driver advice but that storm line up was along I-35 all the way from Dallas all the way up to Kansas. To me it seems like there is no place I could have gone. I feel protected and blessed. I don’t even know what to say,” said Friesen from his Lordeo delivery.

“It feels funny because the night before Omaha got hit by tornados, I was coming from that direction then and then I got this Saturday and then they said the tornados were continuing Sunday morning. I still had storms all the way down to Waco, Texas, yet. Right now, it still feels very funny just being in a bad thunderstorm never mind a tornado.”

“Honestly, it just makes me realize how grateful and blessed I am to have God in my life and praying friends and family.”