Two roads in Cape Girardeau buckled as Missouri experienced extreme heat over the weekend and a bystander happened to capture the scary moment on video.
Footage recorded by Albert Blackwell on Sunday, June 22 shows a portion of Siemers Drive in the western part of the city, suddenly snap, sending a car lurching forward.
Blackwell told Storyful he had been filming a bulge in the road but wanted a better angle when he caught the road buckling.
“When I went back to get a front angle of cars going over the smaller buckle, the road exploded and rose over 18 inches, sending a car airborne,” Blackwell told Storyful.
Watch road buckle, car go airborne
Authorities warn of more roads buckling
City authorities, in a post on Facebooksaid two roads, including Siemers Drive, buckled in the ongoing heatwave.
“With more high temperatures expected this week, the city may experience more street buckling due to the heat,” the city cautioned, urging drivers to drive carefully and be mindful of crews repairing the streets.
A spokesperson for the Cape Girardeau Police Department told USA TODAY June 23 no injuries were reported in reference to the incident.
“In reference to safe driving and roadway buckling due to heat, drivers should be wearing a seat belt and if a driver notices anything unusual with the roadway, please contact local law enforcement as soon as possible,” the police department advised.
Extreme heat wave scorches parts of US
An “extremely dangerous heat wave” is continuing to scorch a huge area of the U.S. from the Northeast to the Plains on June 23, as tens of millions of people from Kansas to Maine endure “extreme heat risk,” according to the National Weather Service. The dangerous and record-challenging stretch of heat and humidity is expected to continue through the first half of the week before easing, forecasters said.
The NWS also issued a heat advisory for Cape Girardeauabout 115 miles south of St. Louis, which remains in effect until 7 p.m. Friday June 27.
Heat-related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat, the weather service said. “Wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing” and “take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke,” the weather service said.
Why is it so hot? Blame the ‘heat dome’
Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch: Road buckles in extreme Missouri heat, sending car airborne
