TROUSDALE COUNTY, Tenn. (NewsNation Now) — Severe weather blowing through Tennessee caught one school bus driver off guard Monday morning as he began his shift.
According to NewsNation affiliate WKRN, driver Don Robinson was warming up the bus before heading out on the roads to pick up students when the storm hit. In the video, the windows can be seen blowing out as the bus flips onto its side.
“The bus started rocking a little bit,” said Robinson. “It got raining real hard and started rocking a little more. Next thing I know it started laying over.”
Robinson managed to keep hold of the steering wheel to steady himself as he rests against the driver’s side window. He called his grandson on his cellphone to rescue him and made it out of the roof hatch safely.
The bus is likely a total loss. Robinson, who wasn’t hurt in the incident, was given a substitute bus and continued on with his normal pickups Tuesday after a day off.
The severe weather was part of a larger frontal system that was blamed for six tornadoes and multiple damage reports. A warmer fall than usual has given rise to a greater chance of such storms, as cold fronts hit warm air and create a powder keg for storm activity.