That large building to the far right in the screen is the Isle of Capri Casino & Hotel. In April 1998 when it was still Lady Luck Casino and the Casino was still on the riverboat, the boat got hit by a tornado. The tornado snapped all of the mooring lines and pulled the boat away from its dock and slammed it against the seawall on the Illinois side then started to push the casino towards the old I-74 bridge. Most of the people gambling inside hadn't realized the boat broke loose and were still gambling away.
I was on the boat when that happened! I’m not sure how they didn’t notice. The boat was tilted.. they had some of us put on life jackets. Some were panicking, which is what freaked me out more than anything! I was interviewed by The Rock Island Argus about the experience.. and so was Ernie Banks.. yes, THAT Ernie Banks. He was also there.
This is my home metro...In 1998 I was caught by a tornado on the Iowa-bound span of the former I-74 Bridge...The tornado nearly flipped my Toyota van, and tore the original Isle of Capri casino boat out from her moorings
My theory: The action starts around 3:40 and ends about 6:20. You can see the power flashed get closer to the bridge and then you see the heavy waves in the water and a small break in traffic as it passes and the the rain follows
I notice the few vehicles going toward the storm are most likely storm chasers. All the traffic coming toward the camera, is the population running away.
Curious to know what those things are in the water that pass by on the lower left part of the bridge, right to left, that have either have navigational lights or glowing eyes....... Inquiring Minds Want To Know!!
Can someone help me out here? Why is one of the Quad Cities being misspelled as “Devenport”? The I 74 bridge is between Bettendorf and Moline, not Davenport. But the big question is, were the old twin suspension bridges rebuilt? I don’t recognize those bridges.
@@bensoltau9157 After I posted, I looked up the bridge on the internet, Duh. It looks great, plenty of room, lots of lanes. I remember when it was a toll bridge. I’ll have to drive through town next time.
Wife: "Oh, Jimmy. There's a tornado over there headed toward the bridge. We should stop here and wait before crossing the bridge." Jimmy: "Naaaaaaaa... I've got a Hemi in this truck. I can beat it." 🤓
Looks like wires being blown together by the wind that you can see roiling the water surface over there. The sparks afterward are characteristic of an arc between wires.
It actually did, if you look in the left side. Additionally, the tornado passed in front of the camera per the NWS track, which the camera was facing. But the tornado was completely rain wrapped by then.
