[Dylan R]

I know, no blood and guts, but people did die as a result of this and other tornadoes that went through the Tuscaloosa, Birmingham metro, and other areas.

[maryrose5]

crazy! thanks for sharing.

[Agapeti]

heh I thought that guy in the middle video was going to hyperventilate. Tornadoes are extremely frightening to me simply because they develop and you don't have much prep time.

[TwistedPrincess]

whats with all the churchy stuff mentioned going across the bottom of the third video?

[Matt623]

Where do you live, I'm in the Trussville/Clay area, we got some damage but we were really lucky. That's the worst damage I have ever seen. My aunt/uncle and cousin died in the one in April of 98, this was sooo much more damaging.

[Matt623]

lol, I think James Spann was on speed last night. He pulled a pretty much 24 hour shift and was talking and arguing with his partner non stop.

[ladypilgrim]

I'm from Elmore County, Alabama. People i know were killed last night. A mother and daughter died in each others arms. A grandmother lost her granddaughter and two of her great-grandchildren (both under the age of five),and i have just learned that she also had to have both legs amputated. Her other great-grandchild is in critical condition (also under age five). My heart goes out to the people of my hometown and to all the Towns and Cities of Alabama.

[XZER0]

tornadoes scare the SHIT outta me, lol

[Dylan R]

Originally Posted by Matt623 ↗

Where do you live, I'm in the Trussville/Clay area, we got some damage but we were really lucky. That's the worst damage I have ever seen. My aunt/uncle and cousin died in the one in April of 98, this was sooo much more damaging.

Holy shit, im in the Clay area, Pinson mailing address. What a coincidence. Are you talking about the tornado in 98 that when through Pleasant Grove and Edgewater? My mom lives in that area. I remember that tornado.

[ladypilgrim]

National Geographic attributes the vast devastation in Alabama on unusual "perfect storm" conditions -- warm, moist air rising and mixing with colder, dry air at higher altitudes across Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.


Upper-level winds known as the jet stream also caused the storm system to rotate, according to meteorologist Jeff Masters, director of the website Weather Underground.

Rotating thunderstorms—known as super cells—spawn tornadoes. In the South on Wednesday, such storms spawned an outburst of a hundred or more twisters, which barreled through six states and killed at least 283 people.

Investigators are trying to determine how long the tornado, which originated just southwest of Tuscaloosa, stayed on the ground, according to National Geographic.

Tornadoes usually touch the ground for only a few miles before they dissipate. But favorable meteorological conditions may have sustained the Tuscaloosa twister for a record-breaking trek of 300 miles across Alabama and Georgia.

This year's stormy April marks only the beginning of the tornado season, which continues through June, experts say. NPR provides an eerie video of the storm clouds' path as seen from space.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said 2,000 National Guard troops had been activated and were helping to search damaged areas for people still missing.

Gov. Bentley is pushing back against the suggestion that the state – and its residents – were unprepared for what may become known as the most violent storm in Alabama history. He said the National Weather Service and forecasters did a good job of alerting people, but there was only so much that could be done to deal with tornadoes a mile wide.

The Christian Science Monitor reported on a telephone interview this morning, in which Bentley responded to questions about tornado preparedness.

“We were very prepared,” Governor Bentley said. But in a highly populated area such as Tuscaloosa, where a maximum force, mile-wide tornado wiped out parts of the city, “you cannot move thousands of people in five minutes.”

NPR took an in-depth look at the search for survivors in specific areas pulverized by the storms.