TRENTON, N.D. - A whirlwind carried a trampoline about 60 feet and over a fence as a 4-year-old girl was jumping on it, knocking her unconscious, witnesses told police.
Grace Hove suffered a broken arm in three places, a fractured pelvis, dislocated jaw and bruises to a lung and kidney in Sunday's incident, said her mother, Rae Hove.
"She's expected to make a full recovery," Rae Hove said Monday. "She's doing very well. Thank God. It could have been worse." advertisement
Grace is listed in stable condition at a Minot hospital, her mother said.
Williams County Sheriff's Capt. Bob Stancel said the incident was reported Sunday afternoon.
"At 4:41 p.m., first responders and 911 got a report that the girl was jumping on a trampoline at a resident's yard, and a whirlwind came up, picked up the trampoline with the girl on it and threw it over the fence," Stancel said.
The witnesses, including two adults, reported the trampoline was lifted as high as 25 feet, he said.
"One man saw the whirlwind, then he saw the trampoline fly up into his view," Stancel said. "He said it was as high as the trees."
Stancel said the trampoline landed partially on a highway with the 4-year-old pinned under it.
"Initially, they couldn't find her because she was under the trampoline," Stancel said.
Jim Assid, a technician for the National Weather Service in Williston, said the whirlwind could be a "dust devil," a phenomenon that can happen even with clear skies and light winds.
"Once the ground heats up enough, a localized pocket of air will quickly rise through the cool air above it," Assid said.
"As more hot air rushes into the developing vortex to replace the air rising, the spinning effect intensifies," he said.
The dust devil "is like a chimney in which hot air moves upward and circularly," he said. "If a steady supply of unstable air is available for the dust devil, it will continue to move across the ground."
The dust devil will stop once the warm, stable air is used up, he said.
Some dust devils have been documented to be as much as 10 feet wide and 13 miles tall, and they can be dangerous, Assid said.
"The trampoline could act as some type of wing for the dust devil to push up," Assid said.
"I've seen a video where it pulled out a five-man tent, and it acted as a balloon," he said. "The air could have gotten under the trampoline and lifted it some ways with the girl."
I heard this on a national news station today (Paul Harvey). Be careful with ND weather!
Topic: Trampoline, girl picked up 'as high as the trees' by whirlwind (Read 4926 times)
