A downburst in Eugene

Today I came across a very interesting story in the newspaper:

Strong gust of wind lifts bench, scatters debris at South Eugene High

I have never heard of a downburst before. I was totally taken aback by the news story. I kept saying things like "oh, my gosh!" and "whoa!" as I read it. (I especially said that "whoa" when I read about the teacher being lifted off of the ground by the wind!)

Read up about downbursts on Wikipedia here.

One downburst actually caused considerable damage in one city. Go to the story and click on the pictures: Enterprise Civic center, roofs and signs damaged in down burst

However, the most famous downburst occurred on July 4, 1977, in Wisconsin. You can read about it here: The Independence Day Derecho of 1977

I thought it was really interesting stuff to learn about. Kinda scary how it can happen, though.