AFTERMATH: Tuscumbia cleans up after damage from EF-1 tornado
“It sounded just like a train coming.”
That’s what Scott Smallwood said after he witnessed the Feb. 15 storm moving in form his residence in downtown Tuscumbia.
Smallwood said he remained watching the weather until he saw power lines in the parking lot adjacent begin to snap from the high winds.
That’s when he rushed to his basement to ride out the storm.
By the time the sever weather had come and gone, pieces of a roof from across the parking lot had been carried over and struck at least four vehicle on Fifth Street, scraping the side of Smallwood’s truck while totaling a few others.
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado with winds speeds peaking at an estimated 105 mph touched down near the intersection of Lamar and Frankfort roads in Tuscumbia and went for just over 2 miles around 11:12 to 11:13 p.m. on Saturday night.
The max path of destruction width was 215 yards, but fortunately there were no reported fatalities despite the storm hitting a populated area.
Some residents described downtown Tuscumbia as looking like a war zone.
As of Monday, Feb. 17, there were dozens if not hundreds of trees down, especially in District 2, many of which were already hewn into more manageable sections in order to let traffic flow through the area.
Mayor William Foster, aided by the Emergency Management Agency (EMA), was helping to coordinate the recovery effort from a mobile command post set up on the intersection of Main and Fifth streets, just a few yards from where the storm had removed a roof from a building on W Sixth Street and drug it across several other rooftops before landing on Main Street.
“From the time the incident happened we have had the EMA involved,” Foster said. “They brought their command post. We had 14 volunteer fire departments from the surrounding area go to work right after it went through.
“This community has got a lot of support. Members of the police force around us came in as well and started barricading off the worst places. Volunteers began clearing out roads for transportation.
Former Tuscumbia City Council member Scott Smart, who works in construction, confirmed the damage to the roofs of Superhero Chefs and The Palace, with Foster saying there was a hole in the former’s roof.
Much of the downtown area was cordoned off due to the widespread damage and risk of falling debris.
Smart and a group of workers pushed an entire section of brick off the top of Superhero Chefs that came collapsing down threw awnings onto the sidewalk.
The section had been at risk of falling any time, causing a potentially life-threatening hazard.
Tuscumbia Fire Chief J.T. Fox, who was appointed to the position only a few weeks prior after spending years with the department, was constantly on the phone Monday directing city firefighters in the cleanup effort.
That spot in downtown was far from the only area to see damage. Foster said there was roof damage to the Willie Green Center, and Muscle Shoals saw some damage as well, but not on the scale of Tuscumbia.
R.E. Thompson Intermediate School also had damage done to the building, with Tuscumbia City Schools Superintendent Russ Tate closing the system through at least Feb. 18.
“Please stay safe and off the roads as much as possible to support our utilities department and first responders as they clean up our city,” Tate said in a post to social media. “Tuscumbia City Schools is praying for all those that have suffered in this storm.”
The seeming forest of downed trees did a fair bit of damage as well, falling on homes and garages across the area.
Cleanup effort
Foster said when the sun came up on Sunday, Feb. 16, the city began working to get utilities restored.
“Our biggest concern Sunday was our water supply and sewer,” he said. “Employees worked overtime to make sure those things were going. We have most of the power up already. We are working on cleaning the debris. I have a lot of people out there right now at residences and businesses doing cleanup.
“Neighboring cities have brought boom trucks, and we are telling residents to get their debris to the road. We haven’t missed a beat. In two days, we have accomplished a lot. We are working on the lighting at some of our intersections and getting four-way stop signs put up where needed.”
The old saying goes, “when it rains it pours,” but in this case, the issue was a threat of snow or ice late on Feb. 18.
Foster said Tuscumbia would have a warming center available in the Multipurpose Building, and Muscle Shoals would have one set up as well.
As of Feb. 17, Foster said the total scope of the damage done by the storm was yet to be known. He said numbers were coming in and growing “by the second,” but there were no casualties.
“It is going to take some time to rebuild,” Foster said. “I know when something happens to me, I want it fixed right then. There are thousands of people with that same attitude right now. Just know we are working very hard.
“There are steps to be taken, and we are knocking everything out as fast as we can. It will take some time for Tuscumbia to rebuild. Some of the businesses downtown are going to struggle before they can reopen. I encourage everybody around us, when they reopen, to help our local businesses out. They need it.”
Foster said he would like to thank all the cities, businesses, volunteers and other private citizens who aided in the cleanup effort.
“We have a very strong community and lots of people willing to help with this disaster,” he said in a social media post. “Thanks to EMA and 911 to set up a command center and give us a place to organize the cleanup. Thanks to Congressman (Robert) Aderholt, Senator (Katie) Britt and (Tommy) Tuberville for their support.
“Thank you to all of our local legislation for giving us money to help with generators for those on oxygen with no power. These are some of our neighbors who helped: Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, Colbert County, all 14 volunteer fire departments, Decatur, Athens and Russellville. We have so many more individuals and private companies that have given us help. Thanks to Mayor’s (David) Grissom and (Ron) Morrow who personally came out to help.
“We are currently working on clean up as our utilities work constantly on all electrical repairs. We have been able to accomplish so much in such a short time because of ALL the city employees and all the help from our neighbors. We are so much stronger together. Thank you all again.”
