Scenes and Thoughts From Tuscaloosa

One of the worst tornado outbreaks in United States history occurred on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. 134 tornadoes have been confirmed (as of May 9) across 17 states with Alabama being the hardest hit. During a 24-hour period from 8 a.m. on April 27 to 8 a.m. on April 28, 309 people were killed, including 236 in Alabama.

Why did so many people die? I believe this article does an excellent job of providing many answers. Many folks in the meteorology community may disagree with me, but I don't think there's a lot to be learned from this event from a scientific meteorological perspective. It was extremely well forecast by the Storm Prediction Center and local Weather Forecast Offices up to five days in advance. However, I think there is a tremendous amount that we can and will learn about societal impacts from this tornado outbreak.

Arguably, the most recognizable tornado from this outbreak was the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado. This tornado was rated an EF-4, it produced a continuous damage path for 80.3 miles, and it killed 65 people. It is the single deadliest tornado since May 25, 1955. Tuscaloosa was particularly hard hit where 41 fatalities occurred. A few days after the tornado, I traveled to Tuscaloosa to help out my mom and sister who were hit by the tornado and to get a firsthand view of the destruction. I witnessed the damage from the F4 tornado in Tuscaloosa on December 16, 2000, and I can attest that the magnitude and spatial extent of this damage was much worse.


The aerial image above shows the damage and devastation in the Forest Lake neighborhood associated with the April 27 tornado in Tuscaloosa. The numbers on the aerial image indicate where ground-level images were taken on April 30.


Image 1 was taken at 19th Street East and included a miracle story of survival. The house in the foreground was a single-level home with a basement. The house was completely destroyed with much of the rubble collapsing in the basement. The homeowner was an elderly woman that sought shelter in the basement, only to have her house collapse on top of her. After the tornado passed, a few students living across the street pulled the woman out of the wreckage. She sustained only minor injuries.


Image 2 is looking across Forest Lake at heavily damaged and destroyed homes along Forest Lake Drive where EF-4 damage occurred. Trees were also snapped, debarked, and thrown into the lake. Other debris in the lake included a refrigerator and a basketball goal.


Image 3 was taken near 1st Avenue and Fernwood Court. Part of a metal roof from University Place School was found twisted around a tree.

It's events like this that are the driving motivator of my career. Fortunately, I've never worked an event where lives have been lost, but I realize that won't be the case forever. However, after hearing the horror that my family went through and seeing many of my great childhood memories reduced to rubble, I have an even greater appreciation for my job as a warning forecaster.

Despite the circumstances in Tuscaloosa, I have complete confidence that the city will rebuild better than ever. I will be forever amazed at the amount of support and unity that I witnessed -- it was truly inspiring. If you feel compelled to help tornado victims, you can donate to the American Red Cross.