A severe thunderstorm interrupted a rally in the northern Alabama town of Hillsboro on Saturday, leaving attendees unprepared and forced to run for shelter.
The storm broke out around 1 p.m. local time, bringing heavy rain, cloud-to-ground lightning and destructive gusts of wind.
Joshua Cofield was one of the participants and said he did not expect such a severe storm.
“It was just a little green spot (on the radar); less than three minutes later the wind picked up and that was the result,” Cofield said, referring to his video.
Cellphone video shows families running for cover and a large bouncy castle being thrown from right to left across the assembly area.
It appeared as if no one was on the dinghy as it somersaulted between collapsing tents and food trucks.
Cofield said some visitors apparently suffered abrasions when a tent fell on people, but everyone managed to escape the chaos.
Local authorities reported no significant injuries following the storm, which caused tree damage and downed power lines in neighboring communities.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, the thunderstorms developed along a boundary ahead of a cold front.
Meteorologists issued a severe weather warning for communities in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina later this afternoon.
The thunderstorms could produce wind gusts of up to 110 km/h and hailstones at least the size of ping-pong balls.
The bouncy castle was at least the second inflatable object in recent weeks to be thrown into the air due to sudden gusts of wind.
Earlier this month, a five-year-old boy was killed and at least one other child was seriously injured after an inflatable bouncer came loose from its pegs during a Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball game.
County officials reported that a sudden gust of wind blew the bouncy castle 15 to 20 feet into the air, causing children to fall out.
According to a study by experts at the University of Georgia, nearly 500 people have been injured and 28 killed in bouncy castle-related incidents since 2000.
However, the researchers warned that these numbers are likely to be underestimated due to poor documentation.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(745x143:747x145)/chrissy-teigen-breast-scar-instagram-08132-john-legend-paris-44485-1d2105651d354e1091e889a6ac19afeb.jpg "Chrissy Teigen reveals surgical scars on date night with John Legend")
