Semi snarls traffic

JONESVILLE - A semi that overturned after striking a guardrail near the 57-mile marker closed northbound lanes of Interstate 65 for several hours Wednesday.

The truck driver received only minor injuries, Sgt. Donald Gregory of the Indiana State Police said.

Around 1:12 p.m., the Seymour Post received a report of an overturned semi in the middle of the northbound lanes of I-65.

Police said James T. Powell, 46, of Punta Gorda, Fla., had been driving northbound in a red 1998 International semi, pulling a loaded trailer.

The crash caused the semi, registered to R and S Transport out of Indianapolis, to roll over. It was destroyed.

The trailer remained upright and received an undetermined amount of damage, police said.

Powell told Trooper Shea Teague he had unbuckled his seat belt and was in the process of reaching for his lemonade on the floor when he heard his semi go over the rumble strips on the emergency shoulder.

"When he looked up, he was already in the grass," Gregory said. "He attempted to steer his semi back onto the interstate when, according to witnesses, the rear of the trailer collided with a guard rail. The semi jackknifed in the middle of the interstate, as the trailer destroyed about 200 feet of guardrail.

Powell did not request medical treatment, but he was taken to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour for a routine blood draw, Gregory said. The semi is being inspected by a Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division trooper.

Other departments responding to the wreck included Bartholomew County Sheriff's Department, Jackson County EMS, Jonesville Volunteer Fire Department and Indiana Department of Transportation.

Northbound traffic was diverted for several hours to Indiana 11 at Jonesville and to U.S. 31 in Seymour.2