FOSTORIA, Ohio — Laurie Kinn was waiting at a railroad crossing for a freight train to pass when a tornado lifted four rail cars off the track in front of her minivan and tossed them up the street, the Associated Press reported.
“I threw my kids down on the floor of the car, and the noise was so incredible. The van was shaking so hard, and things were hitting it and sparks were flying,” said Kinn, a Findlay resident.
After a moment of calm, she raised her head from the floor.
“On the left was a train car, lying sideways about eight feet away. On the right was a huge uprooted tree blocking one side. And out the front? Trains, roofs, just debris. And rain. I’m amazed the van didn’t take off or flip over,” Kinn said.
The cars were from a CSX train that derailed about 5 p.m. Sunday when one of its cars loaded with vehicles jumped the track, said Gary Sease, a spokesman for CSX. About 25 minutes earlier near Hamler in Henry County, part of a 22-car CSX train derailed in the storm, Sease said.