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One Year Later

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited April 2012 in Ten Forward
Last year I was under the gun all day during the largest tornado outbreak in the history of the State of Alabama as well as the largest outbreak in the history of the United States. Over 200 people were killed, we were without power for 5 days after the power plant had it's lines knocked down, and we have been rebuilding ever since.

In remembrance of that day, I wanted to share some links and stats with you.
Ten Forward thread from that day
National Weather Service - Huntsville Office Anniversary Page
Great Video featuring James Spann talking about the April 27 outbreak.
Raw video of Tuscaloosa Tornado

In the Huntsville CWA, there were 39 tornadoes including 4 EF-4s and 3 EF-5s. In my county alone, we had 6 tornadoes including one EF-5. NWS Huntsville issued 90 tornado warnings that day with an additional two issued by NWS Jackson when the Huntsville office had to take shelter.

There were three waves. The first wave in the early morning hours were mostly made up of EF-2 and smaller storms with a few EF-3s thrown in. The second wave consisted of seven EF-1 and smaller storms (one of which almost got me as my kids and I raced for shelter). The third wave consisted of eight EF-4s and three EF-5s as well as several EF-3s throughout.

I have grown up in this area and have never been more worried than I was that day. It wasn't just the tornados, it was the fact they didn't seem to want to stop. At one point our poor local weather guy was jumping between three storms trying to give location information.

It is a day I'll never forget.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    I keep STO out of the workplace.But I read the thread during lunch,and shared it with my co-workers.There is a group of new england firefighters and paramedics who think that the use of this forum ,during a natural disaster, as a form of communication,forecast sharing, and moral support one of the coolest things seen for awhile.I'm glad you and your family are safe.Keep on Treking!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    Thankfully we missed most of it in Florence, not too far at all from you in Huntsville. We carried some supplies down to Tuscaloosa the next day and it was unreal; it's crazy to stand in the center of a town that you lived in for four years and not recognize where you were. I would've believed I was in Kabul before I thought I was in T-Town.

    It was a few weeks before I even made it through Phil Campbell and Hackleburg but... my God. "Wiped off the map" is absolutely accurate.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    I remember watching coverage of the "Super Outbreak" last year and eventually did a class write-up on it as a class assignment. Just what I saw was enough to make a person cringe and be left speechless.

    Living in an area that's not prone to tornadoes and rarly sees them, I can't say I know what it's like to witness an entire area come under fire by tornadoes. But I do know what it's like to have a place called home decimated by natural disasters due to historic flooding here 11 years ago. Wasn't a pretty sight to say the least, and we've come to equate how the area looked to as a bomb going off in town.

    But back on topic and away from flooding. I know what it's like to have a place I've come to cherish pratically be wiped off the map in a short amount of time. And I sympathize greatly with those who lost everything this time last year. I'm just glad to see that things didnt't become worse than what they could have become, and many people, though they may have lost a lot, came though safe.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    I had to do a delivery for the company I worked for last summer and it was to a house just outside of the tornado path. When we drove through what was left of the area, it truly is breathtaking. The area was stripped clean.

    But the one thing I will always remember was in the middle of this debris field there was this rickety old storage shed, virtually untouched. It just blew my mind.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2012
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