DOTHAN, Ala. – It is a day etched in the psyche of Alabamians who lived through it. A day that literally altered Alabama’s landscape and affected, forever, countless families.
A day that began with foreboding weather forecasts that became a reality more terrible than ever thought possible.
Ten years later, memories of the multiple killer tornadoes that scoured and scarred Alabama on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, linger like a virulent sore.
And yet, time moves on – as have the lives of the people and communities who were affected a decade ago. Children born in the days before and right after those traumatic days are approaching adolescence. Homes and businesses have been rebuilt. Some communities are stronger than they were, having taken lessons from that day and channeled the experience into efforts to make the places we live better and safer. In other spots, challenges for a full recovery remain.
Over the next several days, Alabama NewsCenter will look back at what happened in April 2011, where we are today in the context of those horrifying days, and how Alabamians devastated by the death and destruction of April 2011 have pressed on.
Through all the reporting conducted for this series, one thing is powerfully clear: April 2011 is not forgotten. Nor will it be, for a very long time to come.
Days of unspeakable destruction
The terrible tornados of April 2011 actually began their assault on Alabama a couple weeks before April 27.
On April 15, 2011, a total of 45 tornadoes crossed portions of the state. It was a single-day record that would be shattered less than two weeks later. Seven people died in connection with the April 15 twisters.
That day’s tornadoes were part of a three-day outbreak on April 14-16 that raked the country’s midsection and Southeast, producing 178 tornadoes across 16 states.
It was an event still fresh on many Alabamians’ minds when conditions became ripe again for extremely dangerous storms. Today, the storms of April 25-28 are officially known as the 2011 “Super Outbreak.” They caused the most damage, by far, in Mississippi and Alabama, but also affected states from Arkansas to Virginia and even locations as far away as New York and southern Canada.
In the days leading up to April 27, forecasters warned that severe weather was likely early that morning across Mississippi and Alabama. They also said conditions could turn even more dangerous in the afternoon.
Around 4:30 a.m. on April 27, a squall line began producing severe storms and tornadoes from Pickens to Fayette counties. By sunrise, tornadoes had touched down from St. Clair and Tuscaloosa counties to Lake Guntersville.
Just before 6 a.m., an EF2 tornado skipped through the Cahaba Heights area of Jefferson County, ripping apart trees, homes and businesses. By around 7:30 a.m., the first wave of storms were petering out. But more were on the horizon.
At 1:45 p.m., Alabama time, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, issued an extraordinary Tornado Watch. It contained unusually ominous language, describing conditions for much of Alabama as “particularly dangerous” with likelihood high for extremely damaging tornadoes, severe winds and dangerous hail.
At 2:43 p.m., an EF4 tornado tore through central Cullman, damaging more than 800 homes and nearly 100 businesses before moving into Morgan and Marshall counties. About 20 minutes later, the single deadliest tornado in Alabama history – one that reached EF5 strength, with winds speeds reaching 210 mph – ripped through Hackleburg, Phil Campbell and Tanner, traveling more than 118 miles across six counties. It killed 72 people and caused at least 145 injuries.
Another tornado ripped through Pickensville and Cordova, killing 10 people along its 128-mile journey. Yet another struck Marion County and Hamilton, killing six. At almost the same moment, another tornado, an EF4, killed 11 people while tearing through Jackson and DeKalb counties.
At 4:43 p.m., an EF4 tornado with winds up to 190 mph touched down in Greene County and began its deadly journey toward Tuscaloosa. Across central Alabama, television viewers watched in horror as the tornado tracked straight through the heart of the Druid City, barely missing DCH Regional Medical Center. The tornado ultimately traveled 80 miles, killing 43 people including six University of Alabama students. Another nine died later from injuries related to the storm, according to city of Tuscaloosa figures. Whole sections of several Tuscaloosa neighborhoods were flattened.
