Daylight broke Tuesday (Dec. 18) on Colbert Heights mountain in Alabama to reveal the damage and destruction that a late Monday afternoon tornado left in its wake.
Some work crews even beat the daylight to the area as the parking lot of First Baptist Church, in the center of the community, became command central.
No deaths or injuries were reported as the result of the EF-2 tornado forging through the area doing heavy damage to structures in about a half-mile radius.
The tornado was about a 15- to 20-second event, according to residents.
“My house started shaking, and I could see debris flying everywhere, and there was noise, but it didn’t sound like a freight train,” said Brenda Vandiver, who lives on Woodmont Drive.
“I just had knee replacement in October and it was bothering me so I was in bed. I heard it, but I wasn’t scared. I just pulled the covers up over my head and waited it out,” she said.
Vandiver said aside from trees uprooted in her yard, and her screen door ripped off the side entrance to her home, she fared better than many of her neighbors.
Surveying the debris in her yard, she came across a large uprooted tree with a basket of poinsettias lodged in the bottom.
“Those aren’t my Christmas decorations and for that matter I don’t know whose stuff all this is in my yard,” she said. “And the trampoline ended up on top of my van that I’d just cancelled insurance on.”
Cleanup crews were stretched along Woodmont Drive, primarily in the area around First Baptist Church. Several yards had eight to 12 workers removing debris and cutting up trees.
Some of the volunteers were members of a volunteer fire department, others were with a tree service company. Some just showed up, chainsaw in hand, to help.
Horace Davis, who lives in Leighton, said that although he didn’t know the residents affected, “I just figured they’d need help, so I loaded up my chainsaw and came on.”
Such acts of kindness didn’t go unappreciated by the residents who were without power and unable to get into their homes to survey the extent of the damage.
Greg Barnett described his home of 24 years as unsalvageable. A large tree was still laying across his roof, exposing his kitchen and bedrooms to Tuesday morning’s rain and later snow.
He said when he realized the weather was turning dangerous, he went to his neighbor’s basement.
A street over, on Lynn Drive, Jerry and Marie Suggs were still reeling from damage to their property.
Jerry Suggs said he’s lived there since 1965, and the home has weathered many storms, but nothing like Monday’s.
Trees were down around his property, and crashed onto his decking on the back of his home. The roof was off the back portion of the house, and a dining room window was blown out.
He and his wife had just taken shelter in their basement when, “I heard a terrific roar, and next thing I knew, it blew the window out down there.
Marie Suggs said she knew the damage was extensive and dreaded that first look.
The couple emerged from their basement to discover the trees that crashed into the back of their home. An outside storage building was destroyed, and a utility trailer was upright and lodged in the side of a tree.
“I’m just thankful to the Lord, truly, truly thankful, that no one was hurt,” Jerry Suggs said.
Chanda Holland couldn’t hold back tears as she described Monday’s events and the loss of the building that housed she and her husband Johnny’s print shop business.
“It was just destroyed,” she said, adding that she was on her mail delivery route when the storm hit.
“My husband heard it coming and barely got out himself. It’s terrifying, and I can’t even think about it now without just going to pieces,” she said.
Barnett said the close-knit Colbert Heights community rallies when times are tough and will this time.
“There’s a lot of us who don’t know what’s next, but we’ll be OK. We always are,” he said.
Parts of a popular state park in Alabama were also damaged by a tornado and officials said it was unclear when it would fully reopen.
The lodge, marina and some other sections of Joe Wheeler State Park are operating following Monday’s strike by what forecasters determined was an EF-1 twister. But the campground and day-use areas were badly damaged, and park officials said clearing away fallen trees and other debris will take time.
The park is on the Tennessee River at Rogersville. The weather service said it was struck by a twister with 110 mph maximum winds that left a trail of damage as wide as 500 yards (460 meters).
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