SUGAR LAND, Texas – Two drivers are OK after a tractor-trailer flipped off an overpass in Sugar Land on Thursday and landed on top of a vehicle on the road below, police said.
The woman who was inside the car when the trailer fell is back home and said she was on her way to get groceries when she said “the tractor trailer fell out of the sky.”
She also said she’s extremely thankful to those who helped her.
The woman, who has a young child, was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
When KPRC Channel 2 Spoke with the mother, she was in good spirits. To someone who didn’t know her situation, there was nothing that would have indicated that an 18 wheeler fell on her car earlier in the day.
“It’s a miracle these people are alive,” said Doug Adolph, a spokesperson for the Sugar Land Police Department. "It is amazing that we are not dealing with something far more serious than what we have out here. People are blessed. Someone was looking over them today.”
Sugar Land Police said the call came in around 1:18 p.m. on Thursday at the intersection of University Boulevard and Highway 59.
Authorities said there was heavy rainfall when a gold SUV was seen driving erratically and making fast lane changes on Highway 59 going southbound.
PHOTOS: Tractor-trailer drives off overpass in Sugar Land
Adolph said the SUV crashed into the semitrailer, and the semitrailer crashed into another car, hydroplaned, jackknifed, hit the barrier on the interstate and then flipped off the interstate.
The big rig went off Highway 59 and landed upside down on top of a white Toyota sedan, which was in the middle, passing through the intersection. The impact smashed the roof of the Toyota.
“I don’t know how she walked away the way she did,” said Lori Lowery, who helped rescue the woman inside the car.
Lowery, who is a nursing student, said she and her mother were driving through the intersection when they rolled up to the scene moments after it happened.
She said others were calling 911 and she went to see if anyone needed help.
VIDEO: Good Samaritan describes rescue
"I went all around the car, and finally I saw the woman's face, and she was, like, asking for help, so I had to pull back some of the 18-wheeler's ply sheet and I crawled under and I tried to open her door, but both doors were jammed. Luckily, the back door window was open, so I had her crawl out of the back window," Lowery said.
She said the woman appeared to be visibly shaken and had thrown up, but she was walking.
The driver of the semitrailer was also coherent, and was able to get out.
Adolph said both drivers were taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Authorities believe that, because the truck’s trailer was not loaded, the crash was not as bad as it could have been.
Traffic in the area was diverted since crews blocked off the intersection, which is near the Smart Financial Centre.
A traffic signal was taken out when the truck fell off the interstate.
Authorities opened all lanes except for the southbound lanes on University Blvd Thursday night.
A Sugar Land police officer at the scene said it would remain closed for a couple hours while crews fixed the traffic signal.
Sugar Land police said the weather was a factor in the crash and they’re still investigating. They have not filed charges against anyone at this time.
RELATED: Check real-time traffic conditions
Major accident US 59 SB feeder road @ University Blvd. Traffic at the intersection is being diverted with significant delays. The main lanes of US 59 near University Blvd are open but slow due to the accident as well.
— City of Sugar Land (@SugarLandtxgov) January 11, 2018