One lane of Highway 62 reopens after rockfall

JACKSON COUNTY, Ore – Two people are lucky to be alive after massive boulders came crashing down on Highway 62 near Prospect.

Just after 4 a.m. Tuesday, Oregon Department of Transportation road crews responded to a call of a rock slide on the highway.

When they got there, they found an SUV had crashed into one of the largest boulders.

The two people in the car were able to escape, just before a second large boulder crashed behind the vehicle.

The driver was taken to a Medford hospital with unknown injuries.

“We have low volume roads so that helps, but we also don’t typically have this large of rock coming down into the highway. This is a pretty unusual event to have this size of rock fall down,” said Dan Metz with ODOT.

Highway 62 was closed until it could be evaluated for safety by a geologist and cleared.

One lane was reopened at about 2:00 p.m. Tuesday.

ODOT says weather was likely a factor and extra caution should be taken on mountain roads. Visit http://www.tripcheck.com for the latest updates.

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Matt Jordan is the Chief Meteorologist for KOBI-TV NBC5. Matt joined the NBC5 weather team in 2014 after a year as a reporter and anchor in Alexandria, Louisiana. His experience with the severe weather of the Deep South and a love of the Pacific Northwest led him to pursue a certification with Mississippi State University as a Broadcast Meteorologist. You can find Matt working in the evenings of NBC5 News at 5, 6 and 11 as well as online. Matt also has a degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon. In addition to being passionate about news and weather, Matt is a BIG Oregon Ducks fan. When not rooting for the Ducks or tracking down the next storm over the Pacific, Matt can be found outdoors in the Oregon wilderness with his wife, his daughter and their dogs Stanley and Gordi.
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