Downed power poles and a damaged camper from Thursday’s tornado on Thompson Road in Priceville. | Randy Garrison

Randy Garrison

Clif Knight

The remarks of those in the path of the tornado, which began in Hartselle near Bethel Rd. and Indian Hills Rd. Thursday evening, March 31, were very similar. The sound was like a freight train, and our house felt like it was contracting and expanding, or breathing in and out. The storm, which touched down about 9:30 p.m. did the most damage in the Priceville/Somerville area, according to a spokesman for the Morgan County Emergency Management Agency.

The EMA staff and meteorologists from the Huntsville office of the National Weather Service were assessing damage and gathering information to assist them in determining the strength of the tornado early Friday morning. Late Friday afternoon the National Weather Service in Huntsville confirmed an EF-2 tornado hit the area Thursday night. Early specifics of the EF-2 tornado include 115MPH winds with a 200-yard wide 8.5-mile long storm path. The confirmed tornado touched down in Morgan County Thursday night, uprooting trees, damaging homes and knocking out power to many families in the Priceville area.

Sherman Fredricks who lives across the road from Walnut Grove Baptist Church on Bethel Road has lived in his home for 37 years. He was watching the storm chasers on TV when they said the storm was

veering away from downtown Hartselle and moving towards Somerville. Just a short time later he heard the sound of a jet plane get louder and louder. The roar was so loud he did not even hear the metal that was being twisted on his garage outside, or the sound of his fifth wheeler camper being blown over.

He was in his living room watching TV and his wife; Vivian, was in the bedroom with their two dogs Max and Mollie. He did not realize how much damage was done to their property until the sun came up on Friday. He said this could all be repaired and they were not hurt.

Another person who described the storm said he was standing on his back porch looking west and could see the clouds by the lights coming from Hartselle right before the storm hit, the wind was very calm, not even a leaf was moving. He then heard a sound like a train without the horn and within a blink of an eye it was there. The wind was coming from the west and then changed to the east and it was over.

Henry and Linda Crow came to check on their church, Walnut Grove Baptist, Friday morning. The building did not appear to be damaged, except for a shepherd’s hook that was driven into the siding on the front of the church. Henry mentioned that they have just replaced the roof on the church last week, and was glad that it was not damaged. The cemetery next to the church did not fare as well. There were numerous tombstones toppled over and a large tree had been blown over as well. He mentioned that some of the tombstones damaged had been there since the 1800’s.

The winds from the storm touched down in a field right off of the south end of Indian Hill’s Rd. and many trees were damaged and debris was strewn around. The twister then sat down on Roberts’ Catfish Lane where two mobile homes were destroyed, as well as a shed.  The twister then moved over the Bethel Circle and Colony Lane area where many trees were downed around the home of Dudley and Peggy White, at 177 Colony Lane. Peggy said they were watching TV and could tell it was coming. “We decided we needed to go down to the basement,” she said. “The noise got louder and sounded like a train roar. The White’s had several large hardwood trees down just behind their home and a smaller tree did slight damage to an outside shop. However, no trees fell directly on their home. The White’s actually volunteer with Morgan County Baptist Disaster Relief, and were already cutting up many of the fallen trees Friday morning.

The White’s next-door neighbors were not so lucky. The home of Kirk and Laura Speegle at 178 Colony Lane had damage to an upstairs deck and the corner of the house. A large tree had fallen and caught the corner of the house causing damage to the roof and the siding. Laura Speegle was home with their nine-month-old son Eddie, and told Kirk, who was working at Toyota, that she was going to the basement. She mentioned hearing trees snapping during the storm and water was coming into her home from the damage to the roof.

Tommy and Janet NeSmith, along with their dog Baxter took shelter in a closet inside their home, located on 982 Shoal Creek Rd. Mrs. NeSmith said they heard the sirens from Priceville going off after hearing the tornado warning issued. She also mentioned hearing the roar and thinks the storm hit around 9:20 p.m. The Nesmith’s had several large trees that were blown over around their home. In fact, their driveway was completely blocked and a relative was going to get them a car to drive. There did not appear to be damage to their home, but furniture was moved from around their patio and several items were blown onto their pool cover. She mentioned being glad the pool was still covered so that falling debris did not damage the pool. Their cars were covered with mud and leaves but did not appear to have received damage either. Damage did occur to an outside building where their RV was parked under a cover, and a lens cover from the turn signal on the RV appeared to be the only damage to the vehicle. Mrs. NeSmith said she heard chainsaws still going at 2:30 a.m. Friday morning and was thankful for the rapid responders who worked all during the night trying to restore power and clear the roads.

Rick Wilbanks, along with his wife, grandson and granddaughter, hunkered down in a hallway and small bathroom at their home at 1005 Shoal Creek Road. The Wilbanks have lived there since 1974 and he thinks the storm hit around 9:30 p.m. He received the tornado warning from his phone and also heard the sirens sounding from Priceville. He walked out on his front porch and heard the storm coming and took shelter with his family. His home had shingle damage and the weather head for this electrical service was damaged as well. He also had many trees down around his home and the home he owned next door as well. Wilbanks also mentioned that three of five trees he wanted to cut down are now on the ground.

Bobby Haynes rode out the storm inside his camper at 861 Shoal Creek Road.

“I was watching weather coverage on WAFF-48 and was aware of the tornado warning,” he recalled. “I decided to leave and go to my father’s house. When I opened the door the wind blew me back inside. A few seconds later, I opened the door again and it was all over.”

Several members of Shoal Creek Baptist Church were busy at Carol Montgomery’s house at 8 a.m. cleaning up broken limbs from two Bradford Pear trees and a cedar tree. Her house escaped with only minor roof damage even though it was in the path of the storm.

On the other side of Shoal Creek Road, a large, old oak tree was uprooted in the front yard of the Lee home. A white station wagon was buried under its limbs.

Dwight Taylor who lives behind Shoal Creek Baptist Church said he heard a sound like a tire that is out of round and saw a cloud shaped like a “V” moving towards the ground, with blue inside. He and his family went to a basement to seek shelter. He did not have any damage at his home, nor did the church.

Priceville Mayor Melvin Duran estimated that 75 percent of the damage occurred within the town limits.

The area around Autumn Lane in Priceville seemed to have more severe damage. There also appeared to be a larger path and along with more trees downed in this area of the storm path. Power lines were strewn down the street and power company vehicles were in large numbers working to repair power to the residents of the area. Most lines appeared to have been brought down by falling trees.

The area of Thompson Road and Peach Orchard was in the path of the twister after it crossed Hwy. 67. Blue tarps could be seen covering roof damage on several houses in that area. As in the other areas damage had occurred to many homes, but none seemed to be severe.

“We had a lot of tree damage, structural damage and power outages,” Duran said. “But it could’ve been much worse. I’m so happy we didn’t have anybody get hurt.”
He also praised the cooperative effort that occurred, involving volunteer fire fighters, Morgan County Sheriff’s deputies, and Joe Wheeler Co-Op and Priceville employees.

“The way everybody worked together to ensure the safety of those they were helping as well as themselves was amazing,” he added. “It reminded me of how fortunate I am to be a resident of Morgan County.”

“A member of our office staff opened the storm shelter in the basement of city hall at 7:30 p.m. and she registered 217 people who came to get away from the storm,” he pointed out. The Red Cross set up shop at Priceville Fire Station #1 Friday morning.

The tornado apparently touched down briefly in North Hartselle.

A two-story playhouse at 1614 Sparkman Street, NE, was torn apart and its pieces were scattered in the backyard.

Ashley Orr said she and one of her three children were inside their house when they heard a loud gust of wind around 9:30 p.m.

“We knew the wind was blowing hard but had no idea the playhouse was gone until the next morning” she said.  “That structure was built 14 years ago and was anchored on a concrete slab.”

There is not a dollar amount of damage yet available, but the damage occurred on roofs of homes, multiple trees lost and the electrical power-lines suffered extensive damage from the falling trees.

Clean up was in full force from the time the stores was over and still continuing. Volunteers were working in full force in several areas of storm damage Saturday, with groups coming in from other areas. There continues to be lots of cleanup to be completed in the days to come.

One positive report, through the storm and after, no injuries have been reported.

With the length of the storm one amazing thing noticeable was with the hundreds of trees that had fallen, most fell away from homes resulting in much less damage that what could have occurred. While damage did occur, no homes other than the two mobile homes appeared to be uninhabitable, as of Friday morning. Observing the damage, and the number of large trees blown down so close to homes, it would almost seem that something held back the trees and prevented them from falling on the homes.