Tornado coverage

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Tide’s Jones, Ingram, Dareus expected to be prime choices in NFL Draft | 1C

TUSCALOOSA, NORTHPORT, WEST ALABAMA

S U N D A Y , A P R I L 24 , 2011 $1.50

TUSCALOOSA TORNADOES FOLLOW TWO MAIN TRACKS

Smartphone tracking has users uneasy

While data reveals tornado alleys in Tuscaloosa County, weather experts say the twisters’ paths are unpredictable 1950-2011

-1 04

77

83

10-

00

03-

12-

-90

75 0-

1 1-

01-28-97 01 1 9 05-06-0

0 -05 04-30

Northport

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Tuscaloosa

-2 375

5 10.2%

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(4%)

TUSCALOOSA hen Gary Honeycutt tells people from out of town that he’s from ed: Tuscaloosa County has two tornado alSamantha, they know one thing leys, one north of the cities of Northport and Tuscaloosa and another south. about it.

But the data also reveals tornadoes can “They say, ‘Y’all live where all the tornadoes are in Tuscaloosa County,’ ” said Hon- spin most anywhere, and meteorologists are eycutt, chief of the Samantha Volunteer Fire skeptical that the topography of the land has any correlation to the thunderstorms that Department.

But on April 15, Samantha was spared breed tornadoes.

“If there is, it’s really weak,” said Harold when a line of severe storms across the Southeast spawned a twister in another fa- Brooks, head of the Modeling, Observavorite haunt for tornadoes south of down- tion and Analysis Team Forecast Research and Development Division National Severe town Tuscaloosa.

“I was glad that it wasn’t Samantha, be- Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla.

“There may be some physical aspect that cause it usually is,” Honeycutt said.

Data from the National Weather Service we just don’t understand, but proving it is and the National Climatic Data Center was incredibly difficult.”

After decades of research, a lot is known used to map 61 known tornadoes since 1950, revealing what folks here have long suspectSEE TRACKS | 12A

02-13-07

14.2%

To see more on Tuscaloosa’s tornado history, check out our interactive graphic at www.tuscaloosanews.com.

7

Staff Writer

2

By Adam Jones

1 (2%)

8.1%

J F M A M J

* Percentages are based on a total of 49 tornadoes, which is the total minus the 13 spawned from Rita.

J A S O N D

STAFF GRAPHIC | ANTHONY BRATINA

62 since 1950

4

02

Tornadoes by month

14.2%

69

11 fatalities and 144 injuries. The Dec. 16, 2000, tornado left an 0 18-mile path of severely 6-0 1 damaged neighborhoods, mobile 12 home parks and businesses. Some structures completely disintegrated.

10 miles

7

-75 named after the shopping center that it -13 2 1 destroyed in Jackson, Miss., crossed 78 over three states. The tornado, 0 80 0 1 killed 58, including one in Buhl. -10 12 5-1 518 injuries were recorded.

1 03 04

7

9 4-2 1 0

Brookwood

Hurricane Rita (13)

March 3, 1966: Candlestick Park Tornado,

-75

-13 03

59 20

24.4%

88 02 11

11

216

2-02

11-0

13

0

111583

-2 794

6-

04

-0

-13

-00

-01 -24 11

09

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11-10-8 11-10-84 1 10-

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9

66

8

04-08-9

11

3 1-8

33-0

Sept. 25, 2005: levels F0 - F1

7 -18-5

03-29-74 4

Buhl

F0 40-72 mph

Spawned by Hurricane Rita

03-

-08

-10

F3 158-206 mph

12.2% 10.2%

Movies 10B Outdoors 9C Television 1H Today 1E

High 84 Low 61 90994 32007

209

-04 03

8-78 12-0

1

F1 73-112 mph

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INSIDE: VOL. 193 | NO. 114 | 8 Sections

0

Samantha

F4 207-260 mph

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

Garrett Reisman left NASA last month for SpaceX, a private company in Colorado Springs, Colo. “Being an astronaut is the coolest job ever,” Reisman said. “It was very, very difficult to voluntarily leave.”

Dear Abby 2E Horoscope 2E Ideas & Issues 6D Lend A Hand 11B

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Pick Pi ck ken e s County ty 0 07-

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F2 112-157 mph

93 0303-

What happens when you have the right stuff at the wrong time?

Members of NASA’s astronaut corps have been asking just that, now that the space shuttle program is ending and their odds of flying anywhere good anytime soon are getting smaller. The Endeavour is scheduled to launch this week, and the Atlantis is supposed to fly the last shuttle mission in June — and all the seats are spoken for.

“Morale is pretty low,” said Leroy Chiao, a former astronaut who now works for a company that wants to offer space flights for tourists. “This is a time of great uncertainty.”

Under President Barack Obama, NASA’s human spaceflight program has been curtailed.

The Ares I and Constellation programs, which were meant to succeed the space shuttles and take astronauts to the moon, were canceled, and NASA is instead hiring outside companies to devise alternatives.

SEE SPACE | 13A

Bridge 13F Business 1D Classifieds 2F Crossword 3E

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03-0

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By Kenneth Chang

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Echols

5 4-9

02-03-90

N.Y. Times News Ser vice

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95 -07--9 03-0

04-01-74

05-09-98

09

F5 261-318 mph

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-74

The tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa County as an F3, destroying 5 homes and 11 mobile homes. It strengthened to an F5 as it entered Jefferson County, killing 32 and injuring 256.

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05-06-09

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‘Coolest job ever’ vanishing as space program shrinks

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April 8, 1998:

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Tuscaloosa tornadoes 04

Fugito Scale

03-13-06

01

The Associated Press

02 -22 -61

By Jordan Robertson

SAN FRANCISCO | If you’re worried about privacy, you can turn off the function on your smartphone that tracks where you go. But that means giving up the services that probably made you want a smartphone in the first place. After all, how smart is an iPhone or an Android if you can’t use it to map your car trip or scan reviews of nearby restaurants?

The debate over digital privacy flamed higher last week with news that Apple Inc.’s popular iPhones and iPads store users’ GPS coordinates for a year or more. Phones that run Google Inc.’s Android software also store users’ location data. And not only is the data stored — allowing anyone who can get their hands on the device to piece together a chillingly accurate profile of where you’ve been — but it’s also transmitted back to the companies to use for research.

Now, cellphone service providers have had customers’ location data for almost as long as there have been cellphones. That’s how they make SEE PHONE | 13A

In most areas

02-13-07

Bibb ibb County

Tuscaloosa County’s deadliest recorded tornadoes JAN. 22, 1904: F4 tornado kills 36, injures 150 MARCH 21, 1932: F4 tornado kills 37, injures 200 MARCH 3, 1966: F5 tornado kills 1, injures 518 DEC. 16, 2000: F4 tornado kills 11, injures 144 Source: Alabama SKYWARN Foundation, Inc. STAFF FILE PHOTO

BELOW: Terry Boggs walks through the rubble of what was once his home in the Bear Creek Trailer Park in Tuscaloosa after an F4 tornado ripped through on Dec. 16, 2000.

APRIL 27, 2012

STAFF PHOTO | MICHELLE LEPIANKA CARTER

An EF4 tornado moves across the skyline in Tuscaloosa on April 27, 2011. The tornado touched down near Interstate 359 near downtown Tuscaloosa.

‘A very surreal day’

PHOTO | JAMIE CICATIELLO

Rescue and recovery teams sift through the wreckage in Alberta and Holt after the April 27 tornado.

Minutes after storm, emergency responders rushed to rescue

By Stephanie Taylor Staff Writer

S

urreal is a word that comes up often when emergency responders talk about April 27, 2011.

It’s fitting.

The deadly winds of the tornado left behind an eerie silence and sunny skies that seemed an impossible backdrop to destruction that stretched for miles.

The sounds of sirens and chain saws soon pierced the silence. The evening sun settled into a harrowing night that marked the beginning of Tuscaloosa’s

new reality.

“It was a very surreal day,” said Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Offi ce Cpl. Mark Weaver. “But after a while, it just became the norm.”

Weaver was one of hundreds of fi rst responders who arrived in the most devastated areas just minutes after the storm.

Many of them remained there for days, going home only long enough to shower and force sleep to overcome adrenaline.

Very few, if any, police officers, fi refighters and paramedics here had ever experienced a disaster on such a large scale. Instinct and training kicked in, many said,

and helped create some kind of order during the chaos. Rescuing some victims before it was too late countered some of the helplessness of not being able to save everyone, some said.

Weaver is one of the Sheriff’s Offi ce’s deputies trained to monitor weather. He began in the Alabama Highway 69 South area and drove east just ahead of the path.

He stopped when he got to Crescent Ridge Road.

“I realized that I couldn’t keep going and staying ahead of it, so I went into rescue mode,” he said. “I could still see it moving SEE R ESPONSE | 2F

FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2012 |

2F

THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS

‘HUDDLED IN A FREEZER’ COURTNEY CARROLL, WHO WAS AT WORK AT MILO’S ON APRIL 27

W

hen me and my co-workers huddled in a freezer in the back of the store and when we came out and saw all the damage, we all knew it was a miracle that we survived.

LEFT: Milo’s restaurant, shown in the center on April 28, 2011, was destroyed in the tornado.

STAFF PHOTO | DUSTY COMPTON

A family is assisted by emergency responders near 15th Street on April 27, 2011.

STAFF FILE PHOTO DUSTY COMPTON

PART 1 OF 3

Online Tuscaloosanews.com An interactive 360-degree view of tornado damage.

Aerial video and photo gallery of the recovery effort.

Time-lapse video of recovery in several heavily damaged locations in the area.

Side-by-side video comparisons of affected areas shortly after the storm and nearly one year later.

High-definition Gigapan photos, photo galleries and video taken of the affected areas after tornado.

Inside TREATING THE INJURED: Medical staff members recall the rush of patients and the scene on the night of April 27, 2011. 3F

TIMELINE AND PATH: See what happened on April 27, 2011, and the path the EF4 tornado took. 6F

BEFORE AND AFTER: See photos of the affected areas and how they have changed during the past year. 7F

Coming up ON SATURDAY: A look at how the area has coped during the past year’s recovery effort — the charity and help the area received and the truth behind common rumors.

ON SUNDAY: See where Tuscaloosa and West Alabama are a year after the tornado, the mental effect on residents, what’s happening with the affected area schools and how Joplin, Mo., has recovered from its tornado.

STAFF FILE PHOTO | MICHELLE LEPIANKA CARTER

Oma Phurrough, 97, is transported through the damage on 15th Street after her home was destroyed on April 27.

COMING SUNDAY: Read more about her story in the final installment of our special “Year of Recovery” section.

RESPONSE CONTINUED F ROM PAGE 1F down Shaw Drive.”

Weaver began checking inside homes on Crescent Lane and found bodies in some houses.

“I was walking to the next house when a woman ran up screaming that her baby wasn’t breathing,” he said. “Nobody was there except for myself and another dog handler. We put them in the car and fought our way to the hospital. We were doing some rescue breathing, and the baby started screaming as we approached DCH.” Weaver returned to the area and continued to search homes and set up a command area.

“You can’t really think about it, you just do it. There were three of us out there, three deputies who work three different shifts, and we just did it. There was no talking, it was just implied. You do what you’ve got to do.”

Tuscaloosa Police Sgt. Kip Hart said that people in the area where he was working responded in the same way.

He had taken shelter in a friend’s basement on Bear Creek Road and headed toward the center of the city as soon as the storm passed.

“I came down McFarland (Boulevard) and got onto 15th Street, looked over and saw that Cedar Crest basically wasn’t there anymore. Nothing was there anymore,” he said.

A young man lay dead in the wreckage of a home he fi rst approached. As a longtime homicide investigator, Hart’s fi rst inclination was to stay with the student, to ensure his body was identified, transported and his family contacted. But Hart soon realized that there was no time for that, and other people needed his attention.

“I realized that it was going to be a rescue effort, as opposed to a recovery effort,” he

said. “I had to cover him up, try to protect his body and mark where he was.”

Hart and a doctor who had arrived found two injured students in the house, hoisted them onto doors and met a man who was driving a truck down the road. They loaded the students onto the truck, took the man’s chain saw and continued to search the debris for more survivors.

Hart later went to Alberta, where he picked up another offi cer who was walking down 25th Street East, made impassable by debris. They began searching around Seventh Street, where they found a woman and two children, all dead in a backyard. They noted their locations and kept moving.

“There was nothing we could do for them,” he said.

T hey later came upon a woman trapped underneath the wreckage of an apartment building. Other police officers, fi refi ghters and the woman’s neighbors worked for two or three hours to free her.

“I’m not even sure what time that was. Our flashlights were running out of batteries. We’d cut a hole through some of the walls, and some investigators climbed down there to be with her. Someone fi nally found a floor jack from a nearby garage, jacked the walls up to help pull her out, get her on a gurney and out of there,” he said.

A f ter t he rescue, Ha r t worked to establish a collection site where workers took the bodies they found. He helped photograph the victims so their family members could later identify them and document where they had been found. Around 2 a.m., he made it back to Cedar Crest, where he had marked the location of the fi rst victim he had found.

“He was the first person I found, and the last one I recovered,” he said.

Hart was fi nally able to stop for a few minutes and take stock of the situation when he went to the morgue at Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center during the early morning hours.

“There were 27 bodies that night in the morgue. Being in there is when I realized just how bad this was,” he said.

Hart said he believes the casualties would have been even worse if people had not been watching weather forecasts and heeding warnings of bad weather that had been broadcast all day.

Myoshi Wilder had been in

FILE PHOTO | JASON HARLESS

Tuscaloosa firefighters search a business for survivors after a tornado leveled the Cash Depot on 15th Street on April 27.

the basement of the Sheriff’s Office since 6 a.m. The dispatcher had already spent most of her shift taking calls about the tornadoes that hit earlier in the day.

The fi rst calls that came in were from people in Fosters, who watched as the mammoth twister made its way toward the center of Tuscaloosa.

“A few minutes later, calls started coming in from the Rosedale area, Forest Lake, Midtown, Cedar Crest and Holt,” she said. “We could tell the exact path as it was going.”

The fi rst calls reported that all of Rosedale Court was gone.

People were injured; others were trapped.

“There were a lot of injuries.

And, of course, people couldn’t see any addresses, so we could only document the general area where they were and try to send officers to them,” she said.

Dispatchers help people in distress every day, she said. “ You don’t usually think about anything because you have to put emotions aside and do the job. Then, after everything is over, you kind of feel it,” Wilder said. While some people have gone back and listened to the terrifying calls from that day, Wilder hasn’t.

They’re already etched into her memory.

“Going back and reliving the voices, what people were saying about what they’ve seen ... that’s hard,” she said.

Edgar Calloway, director of operations for NorthStar EMS in Tuscaloosa, said that additional paramedics had come in to work that day, in anticipation of the storm.

His role was to make sure

everything went as smoothly as possible in the aftermath.

He drove all over town to fi nd diesel fuel for the ambulances and food for the crews. He made sure there were plenty of tires to replace the ones punctured by nails and other debris.

“We had mechanics changing tires on the ER ramp at the hospital, like they do at the races,” he said.

Calloway set up outside the hospital and helped direct emergency workers into the correct entrance, based on their injuries. More than 1,200 people would be treated at DCH before the sun rose Thursday.

“It was total mayhem in the ER at 9 p.m. People everywhere,” he said. “I went back at 9 a.m. the next day, and you couldn’t tell anything had happened. They had seen everybody, treated and discharged them.”

He said the emergency response to the disaster was one of the most successfully executed he’s seen during his years as an emergency services provider.

“First, we knew it was coming and everybody was prepared,” he said. “Second, people from all agencies in the county had all worked together at a disaster preparedness class recently and knew what to do.

Third, the relationships that we all have made it easy to work together. It was just like what we do every day, just more of it.

It was a unique experience.

“I hope I never witness anything of that magnitude again.

It’s almost overwhelming — it is overwhelming.”

Reach Stephanie Taylor at stephanie.taylor@tuscaloosa news.com or 205-722-0210.

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Friday, April 27, 2012 |

‘it looked like a bomb exploded’ M y father was terrified of storms so he built our 1950s-style home very strong and secure. When we heard that a large tornado was heading our way, me, my sister, and my nephew and niece along with our puppy headed for the walk-in closet in the middle of the house. We heard a deafening noise, and felt the house shaking and a lifting sensation going on. We

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THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS

Sandra Day, who was at home on April 27

heard a large bam and I told my sister that a tree either fell on the house or on my car parked in the driveway. After what seemed like an eternity, we slowly opened the front door. We were faced with a huge pine tree on the house. Half the front porch was destroyed. We got out into the driveway and looked around. It looked like a bomb had exploded. Huge trees were down every-

where. Our neighbor came running to us to see if we were OK. Suddenly, cars appeared out of nowhere, telling us of the devastation all around us. One lady said her house was gone, another said he couldn’t find his family. We left that house to go to our home in Brookwood, but were unable to go because of the trees and power lines down across the road on High-

way 216. We went to our sister’s home because we were afraid more storms would come, and we didn’t know how damaged the house was. The next morning, we went back to the house, wondering what we were going to do. Within five minutes, a truck from the Baptist Association came and started trying to get the tree off the house. Our home was a little off the beaten

path, so no politicians came for photo ops, but people who cared and were there to help came, without fanfare, without cameras, without news media. They came from churches, neighborhoods, states as far away as New Hampshire — and they came to offer comfort, caring, food, water and physical man power to help. Pictures don’t do justice to the devastation of land,

property and, most of all, lives lost and the families who have to pick up the pieces and continue their lives. My sister and I were blessed beyond measure, and had that tree not fallen on the roof, we may have been among those who lost their homes and lives. The sign that remains in our front yard today says it all for us: “I will praise Him through the storm.”

Staff photo | Michelle Lepianka Carter

Above: Chris Jordan consoles his fiance, Stephanie Prickett, after the tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa on April 27, 2011. The couple was at Jordan’s apartment at University Downs when the tornado hit.

File photo | T.G. Paschal

Left: Members of Alberta Baptist Church

gather in the parking lot outside their church for Sunday service on May 1, 2011. staff File photo | Michelle Lepianka Carter

Below: Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox tours the damage on 15th Street on April 28, 2011.

after the storm The path the tornado took across Tuscaloosa can be clearly seen from the air on April 28, 2011.

Staff File photo | Dusty Compton

Staff File photo | Dusty compton

Charleston Square Apartments, seen from the air on April 28, 2011, was destroyed in the tornado.

Staff file Photo | Dusty Compton

Houses sit destroyed in Rosedale Court.

Residents look through debris in Cedar Crest on April 27, 2011.

Staff File photo | Michelle Lepianka Carter

President Barack Obama meets with Alberta residents Ricky McGee, second from left, and his son, Ricky McGee Jr., on April 29, 2011.

Staff File photo | Dusty Compton

Staff Photos | Michelle Lepianka Carter

Above: People wander through the damage on 15th Street on April 27, 2011.

Left: Metal store signs sit twisted among the rubble along 15th Street on April 27, 2011.

Staff File photo | Michelle Lepianka Carter

An American flag waves from a hole in the roof of a home in Forest Lake on April 29, 2011.

A family is assisted by emergency responders near 15th Street on April 27, 2011.

Staff File photo | Dusty Compton

Staff file photo | Dusty Compton

Volunteers clean debris and rubble from a trailer park near Crescent Ridge Road in Holt on May 4, 2011.

FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2012 |

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THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS

‘I WILL ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL’ DANNY HUFFMAN, WHO WAS PULLED OUT OF RUBBLE AT WOOD SQUARE ON APRIL 27

A

nytime I hear a freight train, I think tornado. I will never forget the sound it made as it passed over me. An office building in Wood Square collapsed on me, and I was buried in the rubble.

It was only by the grace of God that I survived. It was shocking to see the devastation that had taken place all around me. Landmarks that I grew up with completely vanished. I will always be grateful to our first responders and city leaders for their decisive actions, having never been through something like this before. And wow! What a display of how a community can rally together to help and support each other during a crisis. I think we all learned something that day.

LEFT: Hobby Lobby at Wood Square, shown on April 28, 2011, was destroyed in the tornado.

The storm, the response NOAA Tornado Outlook

April 25: Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., issues outlook for severe weather on April 27

Issued April 25, 2011

Tuscaloosa

Issued April 26, 2011

April 27, 6:30 a.m.: Tuscaloosa City and County Schools announce that they will be closed for the day

Fay ayette Co. ay 171

Moores Bridge

April 27, 11 a.m.: Gov. Robert Bentley declares a state of emergency in Alabama

Slight Risk Slight Risk

Countyy County

Samantha

Windham Springs

69

EF4 tornado

April 27, 2:40 p.m.: Tornado clips Tuscaloosa and Fayette County line

April 27, 8:10 a.m.: Second tornado watch issued in Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa

Tuscaloosa Tu u oo 43

April 27, 10:30 p.m.: President Barack Obama declares an emergency in Alabama

April 27, 4:47 p.m.: Tornado warning issued for Tuscaloosa County

April 27, 8 p.m.: Mayor Walt Maddox describes “utter devastation” and “massive damage” at news conference, saying “This is a dark hour for the city of Tuscaloosa.”

April 28: Gov. Robert Bentley tours damage, pledges to send 1,000 National Guard troops.

April 30: Volunteers flood city; mayor expects death toll to rise; shelters take in displaced pets

Moderate Risk High Risk APRIL 25

APRIL 27

APRIL 26

Issued April 27, 2 a.m.

Fayette y Co. Tuscaloosa lo a Co. o Moores Bridge

Tuscaloosa

Windham Springs

43

Samantha

69

171 Echola

EF2 tornado

EF3 tornado

April 27, 2:25 a.m.: First tornado watch is issued in Alabama

216

Lakeview

April 27, 5 p.m.: The mile-wide tornado enters Tuscaloosa near Ralph, packing winds of 125 mph and causing tree damage and minor structural damage

Brookwood

20 59

April 27, 3:41 and 4:15 a.m.: Tornadoes touch down near Echola and Coaling

Vance

Tuussca Tuscaloo TTusc scalo calloo ca ooosaa oosa CCounty Coun ou tyy

BBibb County 10 miles

APRIL PRIL 29

APRIL 30 0

April 27, 5:13 p.m.:Tornado rantss demolishes several small restaurants orest and stores and devastates the Forest oods Lake and Cedar Crest neighborhoods Bl d along 15th St. E. and McFarland Blvd. y Blvd.

E. The tornado crosses University to Alberta and Holt, destroying homes, ment an elementary school, an apartment building and a shopping center.

April 29: President Barack Obama visits, authorizes disaster relief funds for eight Alabama counties, including Tuscaloosa

April 27, 5:08 p.m.: Tornado enter city limits, gaining strength over the Black Warrior River with winds now up to 170 mph, destroying the Tuscaloosa County Emergency Operations Center along Interstate 359

Woodstock

Coaling

APRIL 28

MAY 1

May 1: Federal Emergency Management Agency workers begin registering victims; Alberta Baptist holds service in parking lot of destroyed church MAY AY Y2

MAY 3

MAY 4

May 3: List of missing falls to 80; city estimates 5,000 buildings damaged May 4: Insurance commissioner estimates statewide damage at $2 billion; death toll climbs to 41 in Tuscaloosa

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5 miles STAFF FILE PHOTO MICHELLE LEPIANKA CARTER

LEFT: The April 27, 2011, tornado ripped a hole in the side of the Belk department store at University Mall.

FILE PHOTO | KELLY LAMBERT

ABOVE: Tiffany Price collects some of her clothes from her house at Rosedale Court after an EF4 tornado ripped apart the complex on April 27, 2011.

RIGHT: Huston Walters, 20, a sophomore at the University of Alabama from Navarre, Fla., takes a break from cleaning up his home in Forest Lake on April 29, 2011. Walters was taking shelter in his bathroom while talking to his mother, Marisa, on his cellphone. It was the only room in the house left intact.

STAFF GRAPHIC | ANTHONY BRATINA; INFORMATION COMPILED BY KEN ROBERTS STAFF FILE PHOTOS | MICHELLE LEPIANKA CARTER, DUSTY COMPTON, ROBERT SUTTON, KELLY LAMBERT; T.G. PASCHAL STAFF FILE PHOTO | MICHELLE LEPIANKA CARTER