The tornado that struck Canton Jan. 20 forced TIAA travelers to detour en route home to Dallas from their East Texas Oil Museum visit. More than 40 TIAA members and guests rode a chartered Eagle Trailways motor coach to Kilgore for lunch and the museum tour. On the return trip, they stopped in Edom for pie and ice cream.

Rain began falling, thunder boomed and ominous dark clouds filled the sky as the bus approached Canton on Route 64 at about 5 p.m. Fortunately, Rita Sharp, guest of TIAA member James Tew, got a timely call on her cell phone from her son-in-law, Ross Hayes, a scientist with NASA at the Palestine, TX, Scientific Balloon Facility. He is a meteorologist formerly with a major television network.
Ross determined the location of the bus, which had a global positioning system (GPS) unit. He plotted the path of the tornado and told Rita, “If the bus stops immediately for 15 minutes, you can avoid the tornado.” The bus driver, Kip Castleberry, pulled off the road, and the travelers waited patiently until it was safe to continue toward I-20 west of Canton. James Tew said, “We crossed the path of the tornado approximately two or three miles from where the bus stopped.”

The TIAA travelers are thankful for an enjoyable and safe trip. They evaded the 100- to 120-mph twister that caused extensive property damage around Canton and littered I-20 with downed power lines and debris.

The Travel Subcommittee of the TIAA Activities Committee sponsored the trip.