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 dayNational Weather Service - Huntsville Office Anniversary PageGreat 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.
Comments
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.
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.
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.
Coverage Montage
911 Calls
Study of victims