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Nature and Environment

Alabama tornadoes claim 5 lives

March 26, 2021

A series of deadly tornadoes moved from east to west through the southern US state, leaving a path of destruction. Forecasters have predicted continued dangerous weather conditions.

https://p.dw.com/p/3rCo3
A young man in a red shirt and cap stands with an older lady with a blue shirt, both with hands on their hips, looking at a destroyed house.
Many Alabama residents saw their homes destroyed as tornadoes swept through the stateImage: Butch Dill/AP/picture alliance

Homes were destroyed, trees ripped up and power was knocked out as a group of tornadoes tore through Alabama on Thursday. Five people were killed and an unknown number of injuries have been reported. 

One of multiple twisters stemmed from a "super cell" cell of storms in the eastern part of the state, said John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, hitting Calhoun County where all five deaths occurred. 

"Tonight, five people lost their lives and for those families, it will never be the same," said Calhoun County Sheriff Mathew Wade.

Pat Lindsey, a resident of the hard-hit town of Ohatchee, told The Associated Press that she saw her neighbor killed as a twister destroyed his mobile home.

More than 35,000 people lost power in their homes. 

Large swaths of the southern state were hit with up to eight tornadoes as the storm moved about 100 miles from west to east, said Chris Darden, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham.

A fire truck is parked with its lights on in front of a house with its roof ripped off. A firefighter stands to the side of the with his right foot up on the curb.
Rescue efforts were hampered by the bad weatherImage: Butch Dill/dpa/picture alliance

Rescue efforts

As the weather system approached Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey issued a emergency declaration for 46 counties and officials opened shelters in and around Birmingham.

Even with the preparation, search and rescue efforts were complicated by bad weather that continued to pummel the region.

State troopers had to close lanes of a major highway as floodwaters covered the roadway. The highway was reopened later in the day. 

Although Alabama bore the brunt of the storm, forecasters warned of dangerous weather to come, with flash floods and possible tornadoes from eastern Mississippi into western Georgia as well as northward into Tennessee and Kentucky.

jm/msh (AP, Reuters)