Travelers driving west along Interstate 80 in Nebraska will find their attention grabbed by a large yellow sign just east of mile marker 291. By the side of the road a couple of hundred yards before a rise in the pavement, the sign warns, “Watch for wind on overpass.”
We know wind on the plains. It’s a near daily fact of life here. Its gusty dynamism has pumped countless millions of gallons of water for prairie dwellers and their livestock via windmills, the disappearing tin sentinels whose sleek white descendants now harness the wind’s same power to generate megawatts of electricity. And its fearsome might, hurled in straight line gusts and rotating vortices, can cause utter destruction in a matter of moments.
Those who drive that stretch of I-80 often enough can attest to the high-profile vehicles, even semi trucks, that have been toppled off that overpass. We know to be mindful of the wind and to respect its power.
