Tornadoes Rip Through Alabama in January 2012
January 23rd, 2012
by Glynn Wilson
CLAY, Ala. – This lone portrait of Tinkerbell was about the only thing that survived from one demolished home in the Pilgrim’s Rest subdivision off Deerfoot Parkway in Clay after a series of freakish winter tornadoes ripped through the heart of Alabama early on the morning of Monday, January 23, killing at least two and injuring more than 100, according to official estimates. More than 200 homes were totally destroyed, according to the American Red Cross, while many more were heavily damaged from Oak Grove to Center Point, Clay and points east all the way to Springville.
(More photos below)
Pilgrim’s Rest, Clay
Some residents look on their destroyed homes in utter disbelief at the power of nature.
A water boy comes to the rescue.
Many of the kids in the Pilgrim’s Rest subdivision had nothing to do but sit on the curb and wait to see where they might find their next meal and spend the night, their neighborhood blown to bits by high winds overnight.
Center Point
Trees, trees and more trees down everywhere you look.
Commercial buildings got reduced to rubble.
A view of the new Center Point Elementary School at Ground Zero, now closed permanently due to extensive damage.
A very old, large oak down in front of the old Erwin High School.
Tarrant-Pinson Highway 79
This was the scene at Highway 79 and Winewood Road on Tuesday, as Alabama Power workers struggle to restore electricity in the heavily damaged area.
One of the F3 tornadoes that ripped through central Alabama on Monday morning touched down along Highway 79 just across the road from this Jet Pep service station, where it hit hard before heading for Center Point and Clay.
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January 23rd, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Damn! Very sorry to hear about this. In the dead of Winter?
i do hope the casualties are minor, that the children are all safe and things get cleaned up and back to normal ASAP.
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:39 pm
Thanks, Glen for the pictures. We need to be reminded of just how horrible these things are and how they inflict pain, death and sorrow in seconds.
January 24th, 2012 at 3:23 am
Was there any Warning ~ sirens ? i know the Repigs would like to can all that Warning stuff…
i saw pix of the tornedo that hit in Missouri a while back ~ a satillite photo and it was comprehensive in scale … like some giant blew this section of the earth away!
i trust you are in tact tho the nerves be rattled.
Will
January 24th, 2012 at 8:36 am
The warning sirens did not go off here. The only thing that woke me up was the beeper on the Tripp-Lite when the power went off a few minutes after 4 a.m.