People can be heard screaming in the footage as winds from a powerful thunderstorm tore an enormous sign from its moorings.
Published Jun. 16, 2022 12:47 PM EDT | Updated Jun. 17, 2022 11:58 AM EDT
An intense thunderstorm in Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh produced winds strong enough to rip a billboard entirely off its support system and onto unsuspecting drivers below. Miraculously, only one person was injured amid the severe weather late last week.
Onlookers captured the harrowing scene as pounding rain and wind whipped through the streets, pelting motor vehicles and drivers of tuk-tuks, carriages that are pulled by a motorbike and are common modes of transportation in the city.
The billboard, which ironically displayed the message "Keep Cambodia Safe," gave way in the onslaught of wind and crashed to the ground, striking a tuk-tuk and its driver late Friday afternoon, June 10, local time. The driver managed to escape the wreckage and was treated for his injuries, according to Newsflare.
"The wind was so strong. It came unexpectedly and made the buildings shake," Ny Samut, who was at the scene at the time of the incident, told Newsflare.
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Weather observations in this part of the world are sparse, and the highest wind gusts amid the thunderstorm that ultimately led to the billboard's demise are unclear. Phnom Penh's main airport only recorded a maximum wind gust of 22 mph (35 km/h) as thunderstorms rolled across the capital throughout the day on Friday.
Images taken hours after the collapse showed local authorities standing in ankle-deep floodwaters as work began to remove the tattered billboard. Over 3 inches (75 mm) of rain fell at the city's airport from June 10-12.
Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries are experiencing the beginning of their monsoon season, which lasts until November. The monsoon season typically features thunderstorms with the same ferocity of the one witnessed in Phnom Penh on June 10.
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